Wildest Dreams
by 1spiffydeatheater
Summary: Well hey ya'll! So this is my newest piece. Taking a little break from my dear Bellatrix and my AU for a little after war piece. Anyway let me know what you think. xx
1. Chapter 1

The last seven years had been a whirlwind, from finding out that she was a witch to fighting Voldemort. Hermione had not experienced a dull moment since arriving at Hogwarts, until now. Everything was different and now that it was she felt hopelessly lost. What was she supposed to do now?

Having skipped her seventh year to help Harry hunt down Horcruxes she had failed to acquire any NEWTs which made getting a good job near impossible. Harry, Ron, and Neville had all been given jobs as Aurors and were hunting down the rest of the death eaters that had fled after the final battle. They even bought a flat in London together. But what about her?

Hermione sighed and rolled over to block out the light of the slowly rising sun trickling in through the open window. Another sleepless night filled with her new found anxiety fueled by her uncertainty of her future. She had been back in the country for almost a whole month and she still was not any closer to figuring out what was next. All she wanted was to go back to Hogwarts, back to where everything made sense.

It was not long before the smell of bacon began to waft up from the kitchen. Hermione had been staying with the Weasley's since she returned from Australia. Her parents had decided to stay down there for the rest of the summer before moving back. Ginny was the last of the kids still living at home, even George had moved back into his and Fred's place. He insisted that it was what Fred would have wanted, which was refreshing to hear but painful to witness.

Her long curly brown hair was pulled up into a frizzy bun that complemented her pj's and fuzzy slippers. Her feet carried her swiftly down the uneven stairs into the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were already seated around the old kitchen table. Their smiles always cheered Hermione up and she could not hide the smile that had spread across her face.

"Good Morning!" Mrs. Weasley and Ginny exclaimed almost in perfect unison.

"Good Morning," cooed Hermione as she took her usual place at the table.

As soon as she sat down Mrs. Weasley had started filling her plate with the usual assortment of breakfast foods. At least, this felt normal.

Then out of nowhere swooped a large horned owl, an envelope clutched in its beak. Everyone stared at the poor bird, no one was expecting any post. Ginny's Hogwarts letter had come several weeks prior and the Daily Profit had been delivered earlier that morning.

It took a moment for Hermione to realize that it was her name penned neatly on the front of the envelope. She reached out carefully taking the envelope and turning it over, shocked to see the Hogwarts crest stamped into the seal. The owl did not stick around, turning and leaving after making its delivery.

All eyes were on Hermione as she tore into the envelope, pulling out the letter from Hogwarts's new headmistress, McGonagall. Her brown eyes moved quickly over the handwritten letter, in shock as she read every last word before finally looking up.

"Well?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

She took a deep breath, her smile unyielding from her lips, "I've been invited back to complete my seventh year!" She exclaimed as she stood up from the table, "Excuse me, I have so much to do!" she squeaked as she left the kitchen and hurried upstairs to change.

Diagon Alley was finally beginning to look and feel like it did before the war. Shops were open, repairs had been made and the streets were full. For the first time since the end of the war, everything felt like it was really going to be okay again.

There was a skip in her step as she made her way from shop to shop picking up all of the things she would need for another year at Hogwarts. She had a rather long book list with a few extras she had added herself to help prepare her for NEWTs. Then there were the essentials: quills, ink, parchment, and a variety of potion supplies.

By the time she had all of her essentials picked out she was feeling pretty good about herself. Life felt normal, even if it was far from the truth. She had no idea what would be waiting for her when she arrived back at school, but just the fact that she would be back was enough for her.

She was sitting in the window of Rosa Lee Teabag sipping a hot cup of tea wondering what to do next. She had everything she needed but she still felt like she was missing something. That's when her eyes fell upon the little sign for Daisy Dos, a little salon that she had never actually been in. That's when she thought of something crazy.

Hermione hurried out of the tea shop, not even bothering to finish her cup. Daisy Dos was just feet away from Rosa Lee's and it took her only moments to walk into the brightly painted salon.

"How can I help you?" A cheery little blonde witch asked from behind a sleek black counter.

For once she was almost at a loss for words, "Um, I was just wondering if you had any appointments for today?"

The blond witch smiled brightly, "Of course we do! In fact, Daisy's last appointment never came in so if you want I could get you in now."

That was certainly faster than what she had thought, it also reminded her that she had not actually thought any of this through. "Oh wow, okay, sounds good," she said suddenly a little nervous.

The blonde witch stood and lead Hermione back to a white chair and sat her down. "Daisy should be with you in a moment," she said cheerfully before heading back to the front of the shop.

Her dark brown eyes stared at her reflection in the mirror opposite her. What was she thinking? Clearly she had gone crazy.

"Welcome, darling!" Came a cheery little voice from a small witch with bright yellow hair. "So what are we thinking about doing?"

Full panic flashed through her, what did she want done? Daisy's hands were already running through her frizzy hair, sizing up what she had to work with. "Um, well, I'm not really sure. I just want something different," she paused still trying to figure it all out, "something fun."

"Now that we can do!" Daisy squeaked as she spun Hermione's chair around to face her. "Come with me," she said extending her hand and taking her over to a pedestal sink. First she washed her hair, of course even witches cut hair wet. Then she was back in the white chair, still facing away from the mirror, a cape flew across the room and attached itself around her neck.

"Now for the fun part," Daisy exclaimed as she swiftly flicked her wand. Strands of hair began falling all around her as Daisy literally began working her magic on her messy hair. The cut itself did not take too terribly long. Then Daisy dried it and started to apply Sleekeasy's generously throughout. The older Hermione got the more she had come to rely on the hair potion.

"Are you ready?" Daisy squealed as she spun Hermione's chair around.

Hermione's jaw dropped. Holy shit she looked amazing! "Amazing!" was all she managed to get out. Her hair was cut to just above her shoulders and tamed into perfect spiral curls that were layered to give her just enough volume. Everything else had changed so why shouldn't she? Too late now.

Daisy sent her on her way with a large tub of Sleekeasy's to get her through the first part of the semester. There was no telling how often she would be able to get to Hogsmeade while she was at school so at least this would last for a while. She was also given the name of Daisy's sister, May, who worked at the salon on Hogsmead. Now she was all ready to finish up her seventh year, finally.

Back at the Burrow, her hair cut was a huge success, both Mrs. Weasley and Ginny absolutely loving it. She was curious how her boys would react. Harry, she did not worry about as much as Ron, he had a hard time with change. For once she really did not care, she had hardly seen him all summer. The war and his new job had certainly changed him, maybe not in a bad way but enough that they had decided to put their relationship on hold for a while.

It was all for the best, now to just hang around and wait for school to start in just a little less than a month. So close yet so far.


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione had never had one month drag on so slowly yet somehow seem to fly by all at once. It was really a weird feeling. Never the less the day was here and she was about to go home, back to Hogwarts, the only place she really felt like she belonged anymore. Even though this was all she really wanted she also knew it was going to be completely different.

In the letter, she had received she was told that she, along with anyone else who returned to finish up their seventh year would be coming to the school by floo. Not that she minded but it was strange sending Ginny off at Platform Nine and Three Quarters then coming back and waiting at the Burrow until it was time to leave.

She sat on her trunk, Crookshanks safely locked away in his traveling crate, in front of the Weasley's fireplace. Hours had passed when Mrs. Weasley finally came to send her off, half past five on the dot. She smiled, said her goodbyes, and disappeared in a flash of green smoke.

The next moment she found herself standing in one of the rooms behind the great hall. Headmistress McGonagall was waiting there for all of the returning seventh years who were not actually seventh years. She looked around, she must be the first one to arrive, or she was the only one crazy enough to come back.

"Miss Granger," McGonagall said affectionately greeting Hermione with a warm hug.

"Professor!" Hermione exclaimed hugging her back, "Thank you so much for letting me come back."

"Of course my dear! I am very glad to have you here," McGonagall smiled at her as the next student arrived. "Go ahead and take a seat," she gestured over to the couches.

Hermione took a seat, followed shortly by Hannah. It was nice knowing that she was not the only person crazy enough to return. It was not much longer before Padma joined him, shockingly enough without her sister.

"Well," McGonagall began, "There is a total of four of you returning to complete your seventh year, our fourth member will be joining us later. Unfortunately, there was not enough room for you in your own house dormitories so we have converted a few of the old classrooms into a dormitory for you all. Of course, you are free to visit your own houses. Also, since you are all of age you will be given a little bit more freedom. If there are things you want to do on the weekends away from Hogwarts you can as long as it is run by me. You will also be excused from prefect duties, so there will be no need to wear your badges," she said looking at Padma who was the only one who had actually pinned hers onto her robes. "Now go ahead into the great hall, after the feast, I will show you all to your dormitory. With multiple houses sharing a dormitory, especially this year, I would like to remind you all how important house unity is."

As McGonagall finished her little speech the fireplace behind them once again erupted in emerald flames though there was nothing that could prepare them for who would step out of it.

"Welcome back Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall said almost pleasantly. In fact, Hermione had a feeling that this was the nicest tone McGonagall had ever used when addressing Malfoy. "Now all of you hurry up to the feast, I will see you all after," she said ushering their little group out into the great hall.

Each member of their little 'eight years' ran off to their own house tables. Hermione quickly found a seat next to Ginny, thankful that the sorting ceremony was beginning. She did not even pay attention to the incoming first years as they were sorted into their various houses, she was far too distracted.

In fact Hermione did not even really listen to McGonagall's start of term speech, she kept looking across the hall at Malfoy. She was trying to process, trying to figure out why he would bother coming back. Then it hit her, he looked different. His hair was not slicked back but slightly disheveled and even his posture seemed – different. This was weird, all too weird.

Thankfully once the feast began Ginny, and the rest of the Gryffindors' were too busy chit chatting to ask about Hermione's unique situation. It also appeared that no one had noticed that reformed death eater Draco Malfoy had returned. This gave Hermione more time to try and figure out what was happening. How was he back?

Then it hit her, of course! How could she be so stupid!? This must have been a part of the deal his family made with the ministry. This idea seemed to satisfy her for the rest of dinner and she was able to keep her attention fully focused on her friends. Until the feast was over and the heads of houses began to usher the rest of the students to their common rooms.

This left Hermione, Hannah, Padma and Malfoy following McGonagall through the castle to wherever they had converted into living quarters. It felt so strange to not be heading up to the Gryffindor tower with Ginny, it was even stranger to be here without Harry and Ron. At least, she knew Hannah and Padma.

McGonagall lead them up to the fifth floor where a large tapestry with the school crest was now hanging. They watched as she swiftly removed her wand and traced it over the H in the center of the tapestry which gave way to the entrance to their new dorm.

"Your rooms have your names on them and access will only be granted after answering a question that only you would know the answer to. Now get some sleep," McGonagall said turning and leaving before anyone could say anything.

This left the four of them standing awkwardly around their new common room. The staff had really outdone itself whipping all of this up for them. It was nothing fancy but the common room was warm and inviting, filled with a hodge-podge of furniture and a large fireplace. In the center of the room a large spiral staircase that leads up to where their rooms must be.

"Well as interesting as this whole situation is, I'm going to bed," Padma stated very matter of factly. She looked over to both Hannah and Hermione, "We will have plenty of time to catch up," she added with a smile before turning and heading up the spiral stairs to find her room.

"I think I'll be heading up as well," Hannah added softly, joining Padma in the hunt for their rooms.

"Goodnight!" Hermione said a little awkwardly as the girls disappeared up the stairs. This was certainly going to take some getting used to. A Hufflepuff, a Ravenclaw, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin all living in the same dormitory.

"Granger, your hair, it's uh, less bushy," Malfoy said very awkwardly.

"Um, thank you?" Holy shit was Malfoy attempting to compliment her?! She had a feeling he was going to be different, his actions during the final battle proved that, but she would never have expected this.

"I mean it, Granger, it looks really nice."

"Amazing what a little Sleekeasy's and a haircut can do," she giggled. If he was going to try and be nice she would too, she knew that's what McGonagall would want. In the spirit of house unification.

"A little?" Malfoy said skeptically.

"Okay, maybe a lot," Hermione laughed smiling back at him. He looked different, really different. Her smile softened, "Goodnight Malfoy," she said softly and heading to the staircase. She would be nice to him but baby steps. There was no way that she could forget the last seven years.

"Goodnight," he called back an unsure smile on his lips.

She climbed up the spiral staircase, stopping on the next floor to see Hannah and Padma's names written on the oak doors. That could only mean that her own room must be on the next floor up, as well as Draco's. She continued up to the seventh floor, quickly spotting the door with her name written across it. There was a golden lion knocker under the plaque with her name and no door knob, which could only mean one thing.

She knocked, a voice from inside the knocker spoke out, "What was the first spell you cast successfully?"

"The mending charm," Hermione said with a smile as the door to her new room swung open. How very clever.

Her room was decorated much like the ones in Gryffindor tower. A thick scarlet comforter was covering the four poster bed. Crookshanks had already made himself at home on the bed, clearly waiting for her. She flopped down on the bed next to her fluffy ginger cat and took a deep breath. One thing was certain, this year was going to be stranger than she could have ever imagined.


	3. Chapter 3

So far so good, her first day of classes had passed rather quietly and for a moment, everything almost felt normal. She had to stop comparing her life now to her life before the end of the war, it would never be that way again, too much had changed.

Her schedule was pretty simple this year, she had the same classes on Monday and Wednesday, and then the same for Tuesday and Thursday with Friday being free. Tuesdays and Thursdays looked like they would be the most challenging with double Potions, double Transfiguration, double Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Astronomy that night to top it all off.

By the time her last class, Care of Magical Creatures, ended she was more than ready for dinner. The walk from Hagrid's back to the castle had never felt longer. All she wanted to do was stuff her face and talk to Ginny. Their breaks were at different times today so she hadn't gotten a chance to fill her in on the 'eighth' year situation.

The great hall was as warm and inviting as ever and she was pleased to see that Ginny had saved her a spot.

"How were your classes today?" Hermione asked as she took a seat and began to fill her plate up.

"So far so good. How were yours?" Ginny asked politely.

"Great! It's so nice to be back in the swing of things," she said with a smile in-between bites.

"So where do they have you hidden away? I was hoping we would get to share a room this year!"

"They've converted some of the classrooms on the fifth, sixth and seventh floors into a dormitory for us. I have to say it's a little weird living with other houses."

"And how is having to share a common room with a former Death Eater?" Ginny said with a hint of sarcasm. She must have been as surprised as Hermione was that he had returned to finish school.

"Actually so far not bad," she said. Not that Ginny believed a word of it, her skepticism was written all over her face. "I'm serious! He was even trying to have a civil conversation with me last night."

"Are you serious!?" Ginny's jaw had practically hit the table.

"Of course, I'm serious! Though it was really strange, he complimented my hair." Ginny's face said it all.

"He did? Like for real, not sarcastically?"

"Of course for real, that's what made it so strange!"

Hermione watched as Ginny turned to look over to the Slytherin table turning back to her with wide eyes and a strange little grin on her face.

"He's totally staring at you right now," Ginny said with a little giggle.

She looked around to the Slytherin table just in time to catch him looking back down at his plate. He was kind of pathetic looking really, sitting all alone. Until now she doubted if he had ever sat alone while at school here.

"I actually feel kind of bad for him, even his fellow Slytherin's are avoiding him. Though it could be because he got a lot of people's family members arrested. But still, he made the right choice in the end, and if he's going to be nice then so will I."

"Have fun with that," Ginny said sarcastically, "Sometimes you are too nice for your own good," she added with a smile.

Hermione smiled back at her, she knew.

The rest of dinner passed uneventfully though she did manage to eat more than she had in over a year. Amazing what a little bit of normalcy can do for one's appetite.

When she got back up to their new common room she found Padma and Hannah reading by the fire. They exchanged Hellos before Hermione headed up to her room to get started on the pile of homework she had already accumulated.

She stayed up late into the night working on her essay for History of Magic before climbing into bed. She had a pretty good start on her homework, not that she had anything due until Monday. If today's classes were any indication she would be swamped tomorrow and she was not looking forward to spending the whole weekend on homework.

Her morning started as all mornings did. She got up, took a shower, applied a generous amount of Sleekeasy's, got dressed, and headed down to breakfast. Since getting her hair done she spent more time getting ready in the morning but it was good.

Tuesdays and Thursdays started off with double Potions with Professor Slughorn. Hermione was glad to have him back while he could be a little strange he had certainly grown on her. He was a great Potions Master, and she was happy that he would be the one helping her get ready for her NEWTs.

A smile played across her lips when Slughorn announced that the first thing they would be working on this year would be brewing Polyjuice potion. She had made Polyjuice so many times now that she did not even need to look at the recipe, and in one month she knew that hers would be the best.

The only other person in her class that had ever brewed Polyjuice was Draco, and if he was the one who actually did the work was up for debate. Her only concern with this project was going to be how they would test them when they were finished. Slughorn had conveniently left that part out.

Her next class, Transfiguration, would be her first with a new professor. Hestia Jones, a member of the Order, had been given the job. She did not know her very well, having only seen her in passing, but from what she remembered she was very nice.

"Good Morning class!" Professor Jones began cheerfully enough. "For the majority of the school year, we will be focusing on human transfiguration which you all should have started working with during your sixth year. Today we will be working on a few simple transfigurations as a refresher. So let's go ahead and partner up, choose wisely as you will be partnered together for the remainder of the year."

The class began to shuffle around before she had even finished speaking, students quickly grabbing their closest friends to partner up with.

"Padma, Hannah, Hermione and Draco; if the four of you cold please meet me up here," she spoke loud enough to interrupted the shuffling.

A lump had quickly formed in Hermione's throat. She looked at Ginny, who she was going to partner up with, sympathetically before heading up front.

"Now since you four should have the most experience with this I would like you to partner up amongst the four of you," before she could even finish her sentence Padma and Hannah had moved together, "Ah perfect, Padma and Hannah and then Hermione and Draco. Couldn't have paired you up better, if I say so myself! Very well, you can join the rest of the class."

Hermione looked over at Draco with an unsure smile. After all, she had decided to be nice to him, but that would not make this any easier. They stood awkwardly staring at each other, like the rest of the class, waiting for further instructions.

"Okay so let's start with doing a simple swap of each other's noses. One at a time you will swap your nose with your partners and then swap it back."

They looked at each other for several moments. When Hermione had decided that Draco was not going to go first she raised her wand up to his face and spoke the incantation precisely. In a blink, her nose was now on Draco making his whole face look strange. A small grin found its way to Hermione's lips as she tried not to laugh.

"Think I look funny, Granger?" Draco asked that hint of arrogance back in his voice. Just when it looked like his attitude was going to ruin her attempt at kindness, "Because you should really look in a mirror."

Holy shit, was he smiling. After all, of the years of the two of them being in school together, she could never recall seeing Draco smile. She had seen his obnoxiously pompous smirk, but nothing like this. She flicked her wand and returned their noses to their own faces.

"Wait, before your turn," she quickly before hurrying back to her desk and rummaging through her bag. She returned with a tiny compact mirror, showing it to him with a slightly devilish grin.

He smiled back at her with this newly discovered smile that made Hermione almost not hate him. What was this madness? Ever since coming back to Hogwarts it felt like an episode of that American muggle tv show, The Twilight Zone. Draco raised his wand and spoke the same spell switching each other's noses back again.

Hermione grinned holding the clamshell mirror up to her face, looking at her reflection before starting to laugh. She placed one hand over her face before handing the mirror over to Malfoy who took it from her examining his own face with a smirk. With another flick of his wand, he returned their noses.

The rest of class continued in much the same manner. They took turns transfiguring each other's noses, looking at themselves in Hermione's mirror and giggling. Her favorite had to have been when she turned Malfoy's nose into a pig snout though that did get her nose turned into duck bill.

Other than now missing Tonk's and her funny faces more than ever, she felt a lot better about the rest of this year. It was going to be weird, but that was just how life was now. Weird did not have to mean bad.


	4. Chapter 4

The first two weeks of classes had already flown by and shockingly enough Hermione had not killed Malfoy. Everyone had changed this past year, and mostly it seemed for the better. They had classes together all day Tuesday and Thursday. After being forced to work together in not only Transfiguration but DADA and Astronomy they were being civil. He was rather clever and it was nice to not have to do all the work in group assignments. Not that Harry and Ron ever made her do all the work, but she was certainly used to doing most of it.

Breakfast was pretty quiet, even for a Saturday morning. Quidditch tryouts were this morning which meant Ginny, and the remaining members of the Gryffindor team were already down at the pitch getting ready.

Thankfully that morning's post brought her a letter from Harry, she had not really heard from them since school had started. She had been writing him once a week, filling him in on everything that was going on at school.

Hermione,

Sorry, I haven't been able to write. Just got back to London late last night. Ron and Neville say hello! I can't believe you have to share a common room with Malfoy. Though in all fairness his family has been helping us out quite a bit. Not that it changes anything, but as long as he's not being a prick. Ron still hates him and his family, but I see no point in not being civil to him. Not that I have to worry about you. Keep an eye on Ginny for me.

Miss you xx

Harry

She smiled as she read Harry's letter. Ever since the final battle he had been much more level-headed. Though that was almost one hundred percent due to the destruction of the Horcrux inside of him. She would have to take one weekend and head over to the boys' flat to visit. If they stayed in the country long enough for a weekend visit.

Once she finished breakfast she decided to head back upstairs to finish the rest of her homework for the week and write back to Harry. Maybe the boys could even come see her over at Hogsmead. As much as she tried to pretend she missed them fiercely.

When she finally got inside the common room she was rather shocked to see Malfoy there. What was even more shocking was that Crookshanks was curled up on his lap.

"Trying to steal my cat Malfoy?" She asked with a hint of sarcasm. She had cocked one of her eyebrows and was looking at them very skeptically.

"Haha, very funny Granger. I can't get this bloody thing off me." Draco said sounding much more like the Draco she remembered from before the war, but not in a bad way – yet.

"Aww he likes you," she cooed with a little giggle.

"At least, someone does," he replied softly shaking his head and gently petting the purring cat.

It was almost painful to see him like this. A few years ago she would have reveled in seeing Malfoy get knocked off his high horse. Now it was just kind of pathetic.

"Why aren't you at Quidditch tryouts?" she asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"I was kicked off the team," he said sounding as defeated as ever. "Looks like between myself and my parents everyone is pissed at me for something."

"I'm sorry," she said sympathetically. "Not that it really matters but I think you are much more agreeable this year."

"Just what I always wanted to hear," he said sarcastically. "Thanks, Granger." You could tell he was still trying to be sarcastic but had failed.

Honesty was rather becoming on him. This was all so weird. She smiled back at him politely before excusing herself and heading upstairs to her room.

Hermione had managed to finish the rest of her homework by dinner that night and still had time to send an owl out to Harry before meeting Ginny in the great hall. She got the full play by play of tryouts this morning which included a second year getting hit in the head with a bludger and being sent off to the hospital wing. Ginny seemed pretty pleased with the team this year and that is all that really mattered to her.

After dinner, Hermione headed back to Gryffindor tower to talk with Ginny. Sometimes a little girl time was all you needed to feel better. In Ginny's case, girl time always made things better. Over the years, Ginny had become the sister Hermione never had, and she would always be here for her.

Tonight's talk was about Harry, of course. He had written Ginny too and was trying to visit Hogsmeade during the seventh years first weekend there. What Ginny seemed most upset about was that McGonagall was having a "silly" Halloween ball, for the older students, but they could not invite people who were not going to school currently. Hermione could not understand why Ginny would have ever thought that would be an option to begin with, but she did not tell her that. She simply tried to convince her that it would be fun getting dressed up and dancing.

The two of them quickly lost track of time and before she knew it was half-past one in the morning.

"I better get going, McGonagall didn't really cover being out past curfew on the weekends," Hermione said nervously. It was only the second week, all she need was dentition for being out too late.

Ginny hugged her and walked her to the entrance of the Gryffindor common room. The castle was pitch black, of course.

"Lumos," she whispered as the tip of her wand illuminated. Thankfully her own common room was just a few floors down from where she was. She practically ran down the stairs, keeping her wand low as not to annoy too many of the portraits lining the walls. All she needed was for Peeves to find her and make a fuss about her being out of bed.

Maybe it was because it was such a short distance or maybe Peeves was preoccupied with something else but she managed to get all the way back to the tapestry that guarded the entrance to her new common room.

"Nox," she whispered before tracing the letter H and quietly stepping into her common room. She breathed a sigh of relief smiling to herself as she quickly headed up the spiral staircase. Unfortunately, she did not see the dark figure sitting on one of the steps and tripped and fell, shrieking as she landed on top of the figure.

She felt a hand cover her mouth and quieted down, trying to compose herself and reach for her wand which she had dropped when she fell.

"For someone so smart you really need to learn to watch where you're going, Granger." She heard Malfoy whisper. You could tell he was pissed but this might have been the calmest pissed she had ever seen him.

"Bloody hell Malfoy, you just about gave me a heart attack," she managed to say through his hand before he finally moved it off her lips.

"Well if you weren't sneaking around the castle at all hours of the night I wouldn't have scared you!"

"Well if you weren't sitting in the dark on a staircase in the middle of the night I wouldn't have tripped over you!" She managed not to shout, still trying to catch her breath. "Wait, why are you sitting on a staircase in the middle of the night?"

"None of your business. Why are you sneaking around the castle in the middle of the night?"

"None of your business!" If he was going to play games with her she would play right back.

They stayed there in the dark looking at each other for maybe a little longer then they should of. She had never noticed how silver his eyes were until now. Why the hell was she looking at Malfoy's eyes?! A similar thought must have crossed Malfoy's mind.

"Are you going to get off of me Granger?"

"Not until you tell me why you are sitting out here?"

"Damn, if you must know. I couldn't sleep. There. Happy now?"

"I guess I believe you," she said sarcastically. She smiled down at him as she started to try and get off of him but before she could he reached up and grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Wait, now you have to tell me what you were doing up so late!"

"I was talking with Ginny, so exciting, I know." She smiled as he let go of her arm, clearly satisfied with her answer. She finally managed to get off of him, sitting down next to him. "Want some company?"

"Nah, I'd hate to see you tomorrow without your beauty sleep."

"I'm sure you would. Goodnight," she said as she got to her feet and headed up to her bed.

"Goodnight," Malfoy called after her.


	5. Chapter 5

What the bloody hell was that? Hermione was laying on her bed unable to get Malfoy's piercing silver eyes out of her head. Normally she would have cursed him for touching her in the first place, but she did not. She was not even in a hurry to get off of him. Now she knew she had to be in the Twilight Zone, right?

The scariest part was that she knew that she had not been dragged into the old American tv show. She knew that this was real and it freaked her out. Nope this was not happening, she would not let this happen.

She pushed Draco out of her head the best she could and went to take a bubble bath and read a book that had nothing to do with her classes. After changing out of her robes she went into the bathroom and turned on the bathtub, everything was already when she realized that she had never picked her wand up. Shit.

Hermione took a deep breath as she tightened her light pink bathrobe around her. Shit, shit, shit. How could she be so stupid?! She swung open her bedroom door only to find Draco standing there, frozen, his arm raised about to knock on her door. She froze.

"I, uh, you dropped your wand," he said awkwardly holding her wand out for her.

"I was just coming to look for it, thanks," she said taking it from hand. "Night."

"Yeah, no problem, night," he said quickly turning and heading to his room across the hall.

Hermione shut the door quickly, leaning against it for a moment. Could tonight get much more awkward? She took a deep breath and headed back to the bathroom. Flicking her wand she lit the candles scattered around her bathroom. She slipped off her robe, grabbed her book, and sank into the tub filled with bubbles.

She had to be making this more awkward than it really was. Yep, that was it. She was just being super awkward.

It was a quarter till three when she finally got out of the bath and slipped into bed. Thankfully she had absolutely nothing to do tomorrow.

Her eyes fluttered trying to make sense of what was going on. There was a tapping noise coming from somewhere and by the time she finally realized what was going on there was a very exasperated owl sitting on her window seal. She hurried over to the window removing the letter from the owl's leg before he flew off.

Harry, of course. She smiled as she sat down on the edge of her bed, quickly opening the letter.

Hermione,

Yes! We do need to get together sometime! Glad you aren't stuck on campus like poor Ginny is. Making plans to visit her next Hogsmeade weekend. Wanna grab lunch today? Just you and me? Send your Patronus if yes.

-Harry

There was no getting rid of the smile on her face.

"Expecto patronum," she said clearly watching the silver light explode from the tip of her wand. The light twisted and turned as it formed the shape of an otter. "Yes!" She squeaked flicking her wand and sending her Patronus off to Harry.

What time was it even? Either way, she knew there was not a lot of time to get ready. She rushed into the bathroom and lathered her messy hair in Sleekeasy's. When she was content with her hair she tossed on a tee shirt and a long sleeve button up with jeans and her trainers.

Now for the excruciatingly long walk to Hogsmeade. She had a feeling that the secret passages were still sealed from before the battle. At least, it was nice outside, and she was going to get to hang out with her best friend for the first time in months! Not that Ron was not her best friend, but there was no denying that things between them were different now.

She felt like she reached the Leaky Cauldron in record time, quickly making her way inside looking to see if Harry had made it there before her. It did not take her long to spot Harry's shaggy black hair in one of the back tables.

"Harry!" she exclaimed as she made her way over to his table.

"Hermione!" he said as he got up and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. He then held her out at arm's length, "Your hair!"

Needless to say, she could not help but burst out laughing which made Harry laugh too.

"Like it?" she finally managed between giggles.

"Love it!" he said with a smile sitting back down at the table where two butterbeers were already waiting for them.

"I've missed you!" she said before picking up her butterbeer and taking a sip.

"I've missed you too, it's amazing how busy we've been."

"Oh, I bet! The Prophet is doing a pretty good keep track of all of the Death Eater's that have been rounded up."

"Of course, they are. I haven't even had time to pick up a copy for months now. But it's finally starting to slow down a little, at least for now. We have to wait for the next group of trials for some more reliable leads."

Hermione nodded, drinking her beer. Harry and Ron had their dream jobs and were seeing the world hunting down dark wizards. She could not be happier for them.

It was so nice to just be able to sit and talk with him just like they had done almost every day for the last year. While she did not miss being on the run, hunting Horcruxes, she did miss spending so much time with her best friend.

They had made their way through two butterbeers before their conversation finally landed on Malfoy. She knew it was going to get brought up at some point.

"He's fine, really," Hermione reassured Harry. "Actually, and I'll kill you if you ever tell anyone, I kind of feel bad for him."

"Excuse me?"

"Not that he doesn't deserve everything he's gotten and more, but even the other Slytherins have disowned him. He just kind of sits around alone all the time. I don't know."

"Have I ever told you that you are too nice for your own good?" Harry laughed. Hermione grinned, she knew.

"As long as he's not being a little prat I really don't care. I'm just glad he's not dropping the m-word left and right anymore. Only took eight years to get it through his head."

Then came the subject she actually did not want to talk about, Ron.

"So have you talked to Ron lately?" Harry asked delicately.

"No, I have not." She was pretty sure that he knew that anyway. Those two were around each other all the time, she knew he knew that.

Harry nodded, confirming that he had already known the answer.

"So are you two really over?" he finally asked.

That was not what she was expecting. Did Ron tell him that they were over? They were over, it just sounded so final that way.

"I suppose we are for now. I told him we could see how we both feel later on, once I'm out of school if neither one of us have moved on. I'm not holding my breath, though. Not that I'm looking or anything like that, we've just both changed so much in the last couple of months. Everything has changed."

It was an awkward clump of words that sounded much better in her head than it did leaving her mouth but it was said. She would always love Ron, she was just having a hard time seeing herself spending the rest of her life with him.

They were too good of friends to just date and call it off later. She was glad she had ended it before it turned into too much of anything. If it was still something they both wanted later on then they could try again. Until then they had their own lives to live.

Harry smiled empathetically as he reached out and grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She was so lucky to have a best friend like him. He had watched her struggle with her feeling for Ron for years so he knew that this all must be difficult, and it was, but maybe not as difficult as it should have been.

They had another butterbeer each before Harry had to head back to London. He had not told Ron or Neville where he was going, which was really all for the best, but they would get worried if he was gone too long. They had also decided not to tell Ginny, it would only drive her crazy that Hermione could leave school to visit him but she could not. Just one more year before Harry and Ginny could finally be together like a normal couple.

They said their goodbyes before Hermione left and headed back up to the castle, stopping to pick up some more Sleekeasy's why she was down here. In her experience, you could never have too much Sleekeasy's.


	6. Chapter 6

The next few weeks passed as normally as ever, the temperature dropping steadily as they headed into October. Finally, life felt normal, or, at least, Hermione's newfound concept of normal.

Her classes were going good and surprisingly she was rather enjoying being partnered with Draco in classes. For a spoiled prick, he was actually very smart and his new found solitude gave him lots of time to focus on his work. His grades were almost as good as Hermione's, not that she would ever give him the satisfaction of receiving better marks than her.

After Defense Against the Dark Arts, that night her and Ginny headed straight to dinner together. There was just a little over two weeks until this year's newest event, the Halloween Ball. It was going to be a Masquerade Ball and Ginny was having a hard time trying to decide what to wear. Harry had offered to buy her any dress robes she wanted but Ginny being Ginny declined the offer.

"I have extra dress robes you want to go through them," Hermione told Ginny as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. "I actually have a brand new set of red ones that I was going to wear that would look amazing on you!"

"What will you wear then?"

"Mum and Dad surprised me and sent me a new set that I'm going to wear instead." Finally, that go Ginny to smile.

"Okay I guess, they would match the mask Harry sent me."

"It is so sweet that he took the time while he was in Italy to pick a mask out for you!"

"I know, he really is the greatest," Ginny replied coyly, a soft flush resting on her cheeks.

Hermione grinned, they were really the cutest couple she had ever known. So sweet it almost made you sick.

"So have you decided who you are going to go with?" Ginny asked.

"No, who would I even take? I'll probably just go alone, I do not need a date."

"You know technically you are supposed to go with someone," Ginny replied half joking, but completely serious at the same time.

Hermione sighed, she knew that she should go with someone.

"Who are you going with?"

"Jimmy said he'd go with me," Ginny said casually. Jimmy was one of the beaters on the Quidditch team, friends with both Ginny and Harry and was a year below Ginny. She knew she would find someone to go with. "Now we just need to find someone for you to go with!" Ginny grinned.

Hermione rolled her eyes, knowing Ginny would not drop it.

After dinner, Hermione ran back up to her dorm to grab the red set of dress robes for Ginny to try on. She pulled out the brand new set of robes from inside her wardrobe, still in the clear bag from the shop she bought them from. She smiled looking at them for a moment, they were going to look perfect on Ginny.

She hurried down the spiral staircase, through the common room where she almost ran into Malfoy, again. He was coming in as she was going out.

"You really need to learn watch where you are going Granger," he said with a little smirk. It was still strange having him act so civil.

"Sorry Malfoy," she said as she went to step around him to leave the common room.

"Dress robes?" he asked looking at the robes in her arms.

"They are for Ginny to borrow for the Halloween Ball."

"Are you not going?"

"I'm wearing different dress robes," she said managing to hide the surprise from her voice. Why did he care? No, he did not care he was just trying to make polite conversation.

Draco simply nodded and moved out of her way.

"See you in Astronomy tonight," he said casually as she walked away.

Random encounters with Malfoy always left her feeling a little awkward, even now. It was one thing to work with him in class but having him not be a total prick was still just so strange. Even stranger was that she would almost consider him to be a friend. Not that she trusted him, but it would seem so far that Malfoy had really changed.

Needless to say, Ginny looked amazing in Hermione's red dress robes, she knew that she would. Hermione and Ginny were so similar in build she would not even need to take them to get altered. Then to top it off they even went great with the mask Harry had gotten for her.

She made it back to her own dorm just in time to grab her bag before class. Since Astronomy was held so late, unless Hermione was somewhere other than her dorm beforehand, her and Malfoy had taken to walking to class together. Tonight she was running behind schedule and passed him on the stairs on the way up to her room.

"Hurry up Granger, you're going to be late," he called after her as she ran pass him up to her room.

As soon as she grabbed her bag she hurried as quickly as she could out of their dorm and up to the Astronomy tower. She made it to class in record time and was shocked when she arrived and Malfoy was not there yet. She took her seat, slightly puzzled at the absence of her Astronomy partner.

The entirety of class passed with no sign of him and Hermione had an unsettling feeling that something bad had happened. She rushed down the tower steps, searching the dark abandoned hallways to no avail. When she still could not find him she headed back to their dorm. She tried to tell herself that he had simply skipped class and was already back in his room, but it did not feel right,

When she found the common room empty she practically flew up the spiral stairs, slightly out of breath by the time she reached his door.

"Malfoy!" She shouted as she knocked on the sturdy wooden door.

"Mister Malfoy is not here presently," came a soft hissing noise that she found to be coming from the snake door knocker.

"Thanks," she managed softly, her mind racing. Something was wrong.

There was only one place he could possibly be at this hour that she had not checked, the Hospital wing. She rushed from the dormitory and down the dark corridors, her wand out guiding her as she made her way through the castle. It felt like it took forever before she finally reached the large doors that lead to the Hospital wing.

Taking a deep breath she flung the doors open walking inside to see Professor Slughorn, McGonagall, a Hufflepuff prefect and Madame Pomphrey all huddled around one of the beds. A tight knot had made its way into the pit of her stomach as she walked cautiously into the room.

"What happened?" Hermione asked before she was even close enough to visually confirm if the person in that bed was even Malfoy.

"Ms. Granger," McGonagall started clearly shocked to see her there. She turned back to the Hufflepuff prefect, "Megan you can leave now, we can talk more about this tomorrow."

Without another word the prefect left, not another word was spoken until the doors closed behind her.

"It would seem that Mr. Malfoy was attacked by some angry classmates, pretty severely too. Megan found him while out on patrol but whoever attacked him was long gone." McGonagall took a deep breath, turning to Slughorn, "We will begin questioning students in the morning, starting with the seventh year Slytherins."

"Very well, Goodnight," Professor Slughorn nodded before heading out.

The knot in her stomach tightened, a lump now clearly formed in her throat. She knew it. Carefully she made her way over to McGonagall, standing beside her, almost afraid to look at the bed that Malfoy was in. He might be a slimy git but it was obvious he had been making an effort to change his ways. Even then, this was barbaric.

Draco was a mess, bruised and bloody. Madame Pomphrey had already repaired his broken nose and hand, but the rest of him still needed a little work. He was resting now, sound asleep thanks to a dose of Dreamless Sleep, but his face still looked as though he was in agony.

"Well Ms. Granger there is really nothing else we can do for Malfoy tonight," McGonagall said kindly placing her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "I'm sure he would not mind you paying him a visit in the morning when he wakes up." With that, McGonagall turned and left.

Madame Pomphrey was still back in her office so Hermione lingered for a little while longer. Standing silently at the foot of the bed, her mind racing. She was not sure what it was but something was compelling her to stay when she knew that she should go. It was not until Madame Pomphrey came back out of her office that Hermione finally left.


	7. Chapter 7

Needless to say, Hermione did not get much sleep that night. She tossed and turned underneath the covers, unable to get Malfoy's battered image out of her mind. It was well after three when she had finally made it back to her room and she was surprised when she was wide awake at half past eight in the morning. There was no point in trying to fight getting up any longer.

She tried to go about her morning routine as normally as possible and while she was rushing she still managed to shower, do her hair and get dressed before heading down to breakfast. By the time she made it down to the great hall most everyone had headed off to their classes. There were a few older students with free periods still lingering around the room, wasting time until their next class.

Unfortunately, none of her friends were amongst those lingering and she had no need to delay heading to the hospital wing any longer. She grabbed a couple of apples from one of the fruit dishes on the Gryffindor table before turning and heading for the hospital wing.

It took only moments for her to reach the large wooden doors that led into the wing. Once again she stood there, taking a deep breath before pushing the doors open. Why did she feel nervous? She was going to chalk it up to how terrible Malfoy looked last night.

Her eyes did not take long to find the bed that Malfoy was occupying, still in the same spot as the night before. A small smile crossed her lips as she walked towards his bed. The look on his face said it all, he clearly was not expecting her but he did not seem too upset that she was there.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly, taking a seat next to him. Thankfully he looked much better this morning, not that she ever doubted Madame Pomphrey would get him fixed up.

"Better than last night," he managed with a small smirk.

"Clearly," Hermione grinned back at him, "you look better than last night." This got Malfoy's attention.

"You were here last night?" he finally said after a brief pause. "You- you weren't the one who found me, were you?"

"I came looking for you when you weren't in class last night, but I didn't find you. You were already here, getting patched up, and fast asleep by the time I found you," Hermione said softly. He seemed shaken, understandably so, but she did not like it. There was something about him looking so vulnerable.

"Thanks," he said sincerely. "Next time I'm walking to class with you!" His smile was back; thankfully his sense of humor had not been damaged.

"Oh, you need a girl to protect you now?" she mocked sarcastically. There was no way she could pass that one up.

"No! But, isn't it always better to travel in groups?" he retorted smugly.

"I suppose so," she replied pausing briefly, "although I really wouldn't call two people a group."

"I guess it would really be more of a pair than a group, but semantics."

Hermione rolled her eyes, shaking her head, a grin planted firmly on her lips. Malfoy could really be a smart ass, but that was not necessarily bad. The more they talked the more she enjoyed it, not that she would admit it. He was different since the end of the war, since coming back to Hogwarts, a good different.

"Oh yea before I forget," she said rummaging through her bag. "A treat," she tossed one of the green apples she had grabbed in the great hall to him. His smile said it all.

"Thanks, Granger," he said before taking a bite.

"Mister Malfoy, Miss Granger."

Both of them turned, slightly startled to see Professor McGonagall standing at the foot of the bed.

"Good morning Professor," Hermione said cheerfully.

"Professor," Malfoy added.

"Good Morning Miss Granger," McGonagall replied, "I hate to break up the fun but I really must speak to Mister Malfoy; if you could please excuse us, Miss Granger."

"Yes Professor," Hermione nodded as she got to her feet. "I'll see you later," she added looking down at Malfoy.

"Yea, later Granger," he added as she turned and headed out of the Hospital Wing.

With the rest of her day free she headed up to the library, she might as well get some reading done. In fact, she was having a hard time wrapping her head around how much free time she had this year. She spent several hours in the library, looking for interesting titles that she had not read yet. Not that there was too much in there that she had not read. Finally, she ended up leaving with several titles, including a potions book from the restricted section. Post-war perk.

Hours flew by as she sat curled up in the large window in her room, cuddled up under a maroon fleece blanket, Crookshanks at her feet. Deeply enthralled by the potions book she had checked out she had not noticed how late it was getting. The sun was quickly sinking when she heard a soft tap at the door.

Her eyes quickly jumped from her book up to the door, the sound quickly snapping her back to reality. Hermione's brow furrowed slightly as she looked at the door, there were only three people who could be outside it. She hesitated before she finally stood up, wrapping herself up in the blanket as she walked to the door. Opening it to find Malfoy standing there, looking much better than the last time she saw him.

"Malfoy, what's up?" she said sounding slightly surprised at his appearance outside her door.

"I, um, I was just wondering if you were going to go down for dinner tonight," he asked his normal arrogance faltering. It was clear he was shaken by what had happened, even if he was trying to hide it.

"I actually hadn't thought about it, but yeah I suppose I do need to eat something today. You coming down?"

"Yea sure, I guess I could." There it was.

"Just let me grab a jumper," she said smiling.

Her maroon blanket was tossed at the end of her bed as she picked up the jumper Mrs. Weasley knitted her for Christmas last year. Not that she had been around for Christmas last year, but that never stopped Mrs. Weasley from knitting them all jumpers and hanging on to them until they came back. This one was a soft light blue with a darker blue H on the front.

Malfoy's eyes said it all and watching him trying not to comment was practically priceless. She smiled at him as she walked out of her room, closing the door behind her and heading towards the stairs; Malfoy following behind her.

It did not take them long to reach the great hall, Hermione heading straight for the Gryffindor table where Ginny would be sitting. That's when she noticed Malfoy lingering. It was hard seeing him so absolutely alone, even if he might have deserved it a little. Either way, he did not deserve it for the reasons why it was happening. Malfoy's family had been instrumental in the capture of former Death Eaters and now their families were not happy. It was sad really.

"Are you coming?" she asked sweetly, not missing a beat.

"I… uh… yea sure," he said as he poorly hid his surprise.

She smiled brightly as she found Ginny sitting with a few of the guys from the Quidditch team, sitting down next to her. Malfoy awkwardly took a seat next to her, the looks on everyone's faces said it all. This only made her grin a little wider as she started piling food on her plate. She had completely forgotten to tell Ginny what had happened to Malfoy but she had a feeling that news had already made its way through the school.

"Hi Malfoy," Ginny said finally breaking the silence that had lingered over their spot at the table.

"Weasley," Malfoy replied a little awkwardly.

The guys from the Quidditch team nodded at Malfoy, taking their lead from Ginny. Malfoy nodding back. Now she knew she was enjoying this too much.

"Is Harry meeting you in Hogsmeade tomorrow?" she asked Ginny casually.

"Yea I think so, as long as nothing comes up between now and then," Ginny replied with a smile. She always lit up when she talked about Harry. It had been ages since they had been able to see each other.

"Good, I'm glad you guys are finally going to get to see each other," she said sweetly.

"So have you found a date for the dance yet?" Ginny asked slyly. The look of surprise was evident on her face which only made Ginny smile more.

"No," she finally said sharply, "Not that I need a date."

Ginny just looked at her, raising an eyebrow in silent disapproval.

"So Malfoy, what about you? Find a date yet?" Ginny asked turning her attention away from Hermione.

This clearly took Malfoy by surprise, the look on his face was pretty amazing.

"I'm not sure that I'm going to go, it's probably going to be naff," he finally managed to find that slightly arrogant tone that made him sound like himself.

"Whatever Malfoy, it's going to be fun, you should really go." Ginny retorted as a devilish look crossed her face. "In fact, you two should go together," she added with a devilish smile.

Hermione just about spit out her pumpkin juice, and by the look on Ginny's face, Malfoy must have had a similar expression. She was going to kill her for this.

"Come on, I'm sure you'll have fun together." Ginny insisted smiling at them, taking a sip from her pumpkin juice before she started talking about Saturday's practice with the guys.

Hermione sat there for few moments, an awkward silence hanging in the air between her and Malfoy.

"Sorry about that. Ginny can get a little carried away sometimes. You don't have to go with me if you don't want to." Hermione said apologetically.

"It's fine, we might as well, if you don't mind going with me," Malfoy said casually enough. Not what she expected.

"I guess I could go with you," she replied nonchalantly.

"Then it's settled. Hope you can keep up with me," he said with a smug little smile.

"Oh really?" she retorted sarcastically, "I'll try my hardest."


	8. Chapter 8

To say that time was flying would be an immense understatement. In fact, Hermione could not remember a time ever moving so fast in her entire life. Things were good, better than anything had been in a long time.

McGonagall had apprehended the students responsible for attacking Malfoy; three seventh year Slytherins whose parents were locked up after being turned in by the Malfoys. Like that surprised anyone.

Either way, Malfoy's attack had brought around a strange turn of events. His ostracization from the majority of remaining Slytherin students had brought out just how much Malfoy had really changed this past year. He was still a prat, but he was much easier to get along with now.

It was funny how the war changed people, it was evident in everyone at Hogwarts. No one was unchanged by the events of the last several years. Thankfully most of these changes were for the better, not all but most. In just a few more days it would be the six-month anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. Six months since Voldemort was killed and left lying dead in the courtyard. Six months since the war ended.

October was fading quickly into November and the nights were growing colder and shorter. Thankfully this year was not nearly as cold as the last. Even the weather was better since Voldemort's death.

The entire castle was festively decorated for Halloween, the great hall especially so. You could not go five feet without running into a Jack-o-Lantern. They had even brought in hundreds of fruit bats that had been set loose throughout the castle. It was quite the sight.

It was a beautiful crisp fall day, and as it was a Saturday the school grounds were bustling with students. The Halloween feast was just about to get started, but Hermione was not going to the feast this year. Instead, she had decided to take full advantage of her privilege to leave school grounds to have her hair done for the ball tonight. While she was perfectly capable of doing her hair herself it would be nice to not have to spend an entire day trying to pin it up.

As the rest of the students began filing into the great hall Hermione made her way out of school and across the grounds towards Hogsmeade. She caught a few funny glances from students heading inside as she made her way past them and further away from the castle.

The walk to the little salon in Hogsmeade did not take too long and she was there just in time for her five o'clock appointment. May was practically identical to her sister Daisy, but had short lavender hair. She reminded Hermione of Tonks. Tonks always did love helping Hermione with her hair. This only made her smile grow.

"Hermione!" squeaked May. "I am so excited to get you all dolled up for tonight!" she said happily as she brought Hermione over to a chair. "Let's go ahead and start with a trim, get this fabulous haircut of yours looking as fresh as the day you got it. Then we can get your hair pinned up, makeup done and send you on your way!"

May might be the bubbliest person Hermione had ever met but she sure was good at what she did. It took her no time at all to touch up her haircut and move on to getting her hair pinned up for the ball. No less than half a jar of Sleekeasy's was used to help tame her hair for that evening.

Several hours had passed before May decided that she was finally done. She spun Hermione's chair around, finally allowing her to see herself in the mirror on the wall across from her. An audible gasp left Hermione's lips as she looked at her reflection.

"I love it!" she finally managed, unable to take her eyes off of her reflection.

May had truly outdone herself. Hermione's hair had never been so straight in her entire life, neatly swept back into a neat little knot. She had a delicate band pinned across her head, made out of the same delicate gold leafs that covered her dress robes. Her makeup was simple, but it made her dark eyes sparkle.

"Then my work here is done!" May beamed at her. "Time for this princess to make her way to the ball!"

"Thank you!" Hermione explained hugging May before heading back to Hogwarts. It was already well after seven which only gave her a little time to get dressed before the ball began at half past eight.

She was filled with a nervous excitement as she rushed back to her room. It took her no time at all to slip into the beautiful robes her parents had gotten for her and tie her mask on. She looked herself over in the full-length mirror standing in the corner of her room for just a moment before slipping on her heels and slipping her wand into her matching clutch.

Everything was a soft champagne gold. From the delicate filigree mask to her simple patent leather heels. Her dress robes were made from a soft sheer champagne-colored fabric with gold embellishments delicately covering her body. She had never felt so beautiful in her entire life. Australian dress robes who knew?!

Before she knew it, it was already a quarter past eight. She was due to meet up with Malfoy, Ginny and her date Jimmy; right now of course. She quickly made her way downstairs, out of the eighth year common room and out into the castle. The staircases were practically empty, which meant she was really late.

Thankfully none of the stairs tried to take her on any detours on the way down and she found herself walking down the final flight just as the clock tower chimed half past eight. She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at all of her classmates dressed up waiting for the doors to open.

She saw Ginny first, looking stunning in her red dress robes and the mask Harry had bought her. Her smile broadened as she continued down the stairs towards her.

"Bloody hell, you look amazing!" Ginny exclaimed as Hermione got within arm's length before hugging her.

"You look amazing!" Hermione added.  
"Granger?" she heard Malfoy ask behind her.

She spun around, Malfoy was standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face. He had taken his green dragon mask off and was holding it in one hand. It looked absolutely fantastic paired with his bright green dress robes. All the green made his silver eyes shine so bright, or maybe she had just never really noticed how bright his eyes were.

"Malfoy," she said with a smile.

"You look great," he said composing himself.

"So do you," Hermione replied just as the large wooden doors opened and the sound of music quickly filled the air.

The crowd slowly began making its way forward as students started entering the great hall. Ginny and her date Jimmy slowly started making their way forward. Before Hermione could turn around to see where Malfoy was she felt him softly take her hand and begin leading her forward through the crowd.

A rush moved through her as Malfoy took her hand. It was so strange, but not a bad strange. It did not take them too long before they were entering the great hall, still magnificently decorated for Halloween but there was something about it now that made it feel grander.

Tonight's event was already much more casual than the Yule Ball, which was certainly not a bad thing. There were tables set up in the back, a long table at one side filled with snacks, candy, and pumpkin juice, the rest of the hall had been turned into a dance floor with an orchestra at the front. It was really very stunning.

"Care to dance?" Malfoy asked looking at her through the yellow eyes of his dragon mask.

"I'd like that," she replied sweetly as she let Malfoy lead her out onto the dance floor.

Malfoy placed one hand firmly on her waist, his other holding her hand softly as he twirled Hermione around the dance floor. She knew Malfoy could dance but she was still surprised at how absolutely fantastic he was. Everything about their friendship surprised her.

The pair danced through the night, gliding across the dance floor and laughing as they casually chatted. She could have never imagined having so much fun with Malfoy of all people. That night continued by in a whirlwind of dancing and laughter. Before they knew it they were one of the few people still dancing, staying out on the dance floor until the very last song.

They left the sparsely inhabited great hall arm in arm, laughing softly as they made their way through the empty corridors back to their common room. Tonight was so unexpectedly wonderful.

"I had a really great night Malfoy, seriously," Hermione said sweetly as they climbed onto the landing where their rooms were.

"Thanks for agreeing to come with me," Malfoy smirked as he reached out for Hermione's hand. Holding it softly as he brought it up to his lips and kissing it lightly. "Goodnight Granger," he said turning and heading into his room.

"Goodnight Malfoy," Hermione replied as she stood on the landing, trying to process that night's events.

She entered her room and flopped onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She could now honestly say she was friends with Draco Malfoy, good friends. This was the most fun she had had in ages.


	9. Chapter 9

Halloween had kicked November off to a great start. The first week flew by while Malfoy began to really get along with his new found Gryffindor friends. It was still very strange if Hermione thought about it for too long but Malfoy had really seemed to have changed.

Today was the first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor v Slytherin. Hermione was bundled up in scarlet and gold, all ready to cheer on Ginny and the rest of her team. She might not be the biggest Quidditch fan but she loved to go cheer on her friends.

Hermione pulled her scarlet and gold hat on over her tamed curly hair as she headed out the door of her room. She was pulling her gloves on as she started down the spiral staircase that led to the common room when she caught a glimpse of someone just in time to stop before crashing into them.

"Good morning Malfoy!" Hermione said cheerfully.

"Morning Granger," Malfoy replied casually as he started to continue up the staircase.

"Are you coming to the Quidditch game?" Hermione asked, which stopped Malfoy in his tracks.

"Um, I'm not really sure. Maybe if it wasn't the Gryffindor-Slytherin match."

Of course, Hermione had not thought about how strange it must be to be exiled from your house and to now be hanging out with their biggest rival.

"Oh, of course," she said softly, "Well you can come with me if you want. Pretty strange going to the match alone, to be honest."

Draco looked at her for a long moment, clearly contemplating his current dilemma.

"I guess I could go with you, so you don't have to go alone. But I am not ready to wear those hideous colors," he said with a sly smirk.

"Then hurry up and get ready! I'll meet you down at breakfast," she said with a big smile before heading downstairs.

There was no doubting their friendship anymore. While they still were not diving into the nitty gritty details of their lives they did spend a ton of time together. It was still strange if Hermione spent too much time thinking about it.

Malfoy eventually arrived in the great hall around the end of breakfast, grabbing an apple before heading out to the quidditch pitch with Hermione. He was all bundled up in emerald and silver, like normal, but he stuck out like a sore thumb as they found a spot over with the rest of the Gryffindor students.

The pair casually chatted as per usual as they waited for the game to start. Passing the time and keeping Malfoy's attention off of any strange looks they got sitting in the stands. Hermione could care less but she knew that this really bothered him, as it would most people.

To no one's surprise, the first match of the season was as exciting as ever. Hermione cheered for Gryffindor while Malfoy clapped softly for both sides. She knew this was hard for him but she was glad he came out. He loved quidditch, he watched the game intently but was clearly torn over who he should be cheering for.

Gryffindor dominated, Ginny's team was stronger than ever. Slytherin caught the snitch and still managed to lose by thirty points. The match was spectacular and the Gryffindor's cheers filled the air. The stands erupted around them as students cheered and filed out and down to the pitch before taking the party back to the Gryffindor common room.

"That was a great match!" Hermione exclaimed as the pair made their way away from the pitch.

"Yea not bad. Ginny is really good," Draco said sounding much cheerier than he had.

"She really is, at least I've always thought so," Hermione said sweetly. "Not that I am the best judge of Quidditch skills," she added laughing softly.

"Well you were right about her; she could really go places."

"Wouldn't that be something!"

The pair continued through the castle and back up to the eighth year common room. They spent most of their time hanging out there, usually studying and working on homework. Today was different, though, there was no homework to do and no test to study for. Today it was just the two of them crashed out on the soft sofa in front of the roaring fireplace.

Their winter wear was tossed over the back of the sofa, the fire keeping them toasty. Draco had a bottle of mead he had gotten last weekend and poured them each a glass why they chatted casually. It was wonderfully sweet, maybe one of the best meads Hermione had ever tasted. Malfoy did have impeccable taste sometimes.

It did not take long before they had finished the bottle and Draco had used a summoning charm on the other bottle he had stashed away in his room.

"Looks like I am going to have to make another trip to Hogsmeade next weekend to restock," he laughed as he poured them both another glass.

"I can come with, buy a little bit for the next time we do this."

"Sounds like a plan to me!"

They continued to laugh and chat all the way through the second bottle. The sun was sinking quickly, the light streaming in from the large bay window was dimming. It was hard to believe how much fun she was having with Draco Malfoy, of all people. It was amazing how things had changed.

"Granger," Malfoy said looking rather seriously at her.

"Malfoy," Hermione said questioningly back.

"Thank you," he said sincerely.

"For what?" she asked her head tilted slightly.

"For being my friend, even after everything that has happened."

"You are much easier to get along with now," Hermione said sweetly with a soft smile on her lips.

"Suppose I am," Malfoy replied slightly sarcastically as he held the empty bottle upside down over his glass.

This gesture confirmed both of their suspicions that they were out of mead.

"Now what?" Hermione asked as they looked at each other and the two empty bottles between them.

"Why don't you tell me Miss Know-it-all?" Draco replied slyly, a grin spread across his face.

"Oh, so it's Miss Know-it-all now," Hermione laughed back as she picked up one of the throw pillows and hit it across Malfoy's shoulder.

"Did you really just hit me with a pillow?" Malfoy laughed very amused at Granger's response.

"I really did. What are you going to do about it?"

These were mead driven fighting words. Malfoy cocked an eyebrow playfully as he looked at Granger. Even slightly intoxicated he was cool and calculating and Hermione was having a difficult time looking away from his silver eyes. If she would have been fully aware she would have noticed Draco lifting his wand.

"Titillando," Draco said slyly as a purple light sprung from the tip of this wand and wrapped around Hermione as she squealed and laughed uncontrollably.

"Tarantallegra," Hermione finally managed to say as she tried to hold eye contact while the purple light from Draco's wand continued to tickle her uncontrollably.

A green light shot forward from Hermione's wand hitting Draco sending him to his feet as they moved uncontrollably. Hermione laughed more watching Draco as his feet danced beneath him.

Unfortunately for Hermione, she was unable to hold eye contact and her jinx broke allowing Malfoy full control of his feet once more.

"Is that the best you can do Granger?" Malfoy said playfully.

"Oppugno!" Hermione managed through squeals and laughs. This sent all of the throw pillows in the common room flying at Malfoy hitting him repeatedly as he tried to fend them off to no avail.

"Ebublio!" Draco shouted finally breaking the tickling hex on Hermione and trapping all of the pillows in a giant purple bubble.

It took a moment for Hermione to finally catch her breath, her gaze focused back on Malfoy.

"It's still pretty early if you want to run down to the three broomsticks and grab a drink."

"I'd love to," Draco said as he broke his gaze from his bubble jinx and sent all of the pillows crashing down on Hermione. "Shall we?" he added with a grin holding out his hand to help her off the couch and out from underneath the pile of pillows he just dumped on her.

"We shall," Hermione smiled brightly as she took Draco's hand allowing him to help pull her up out of the pile of pillows.

The pair quickly threw on their winter wear that had been draped over the back of the couch and headed out. It was almost dark by the time they got outside and the temperature was dropping rapidly.

"Want to take my broom?" Draco asked as he buttoned up his winter cloak.

"What makes you think I'll get on the back of your broom? Especially after we've finished off two bottles of mead." Hermione asked playfully.

"Well, it's faster than walking. It's cold outside and the sooner we get there the sooner we can take a shot of fire whiskey to warm us up." Draco replied smoothly as his summoned broom sailed into his waiting hand. He quickly mounted the broom before looking back at Granger. "I won't bite."

Hermione looked at him skeptically before finally climbing onto the back of Draco's broom and wrapping her arms around him.

The trip to Hogsmeade took no time at all on Draco's broom and before she knew it they were at the door of the Three Broomsticks. Draco hopped off the broom and held his hand out to help Hermione off. When he was not being a prick his manners really were impeccable.

They walked inside hanging their cloaks up by the door along with Draco's broom before taking a seat at the bar. Draco ordered two shots of fire whiskey and a bottle of mulled mead to start off with.

"Cheers," Draco said as he picked up his shot holding it up.

"Cheers," Hermione replied picking up her own shot and tapping it gently against his before she drank it. This was her first time drinking fire whiskey and she could not deny that she liked it. The fiery liquid instantly warmed her up as it settled in her stomach, a warm tingly feeling settling across her face. She might be a little bit tipsy.

"Want to move to a table?" Draco asked. The Three Broomsticks was getting crowded the later it got, it was a Saturday night after all, and the bar was piling up with locals.

"Sure," Hermione said as she carefully slid out of her barstool and onto her feet.

Draco grabbed the bottle of mead and their glasses and wandered over to an empty table in a quiet corner of the bar.

They sat next to each other in the cozy corner booth as they made their way through their third bottle of mead for the evening just enjoying each other's company. It was seriously so weird how well they got along, how much they actually had in common and how she just could not stop looking into his silver eyes. That last one Hermione was going to chalk up to the amount of alcohol she had ingested.

The pair laughed and drank well into the night finishing several bottles of mead and a few more shots of fire whiskey. Before either one of them knew it it was well after midnight and they were both rather intoxicated.

"I don't know about you, but I am too drunk to ride on a broom," Hermione said looking up at Malfoy his silvery eyes gleaming even in the dim light of the bar.

"Yea I think my broom is out of the question for both if us," Draco replied with a laugh. "I also think walking back to school this late would be unwise."

"That is probably true. So what are we going to do?" She asked. It was clear Hermione had never been in a situation like this.

"Let's see if we can get rooms here for the night. C'mon," he said as he stood up from the booth they had been occupying all night.

Thankfully it did not take them long to find Madam Rosmerta as Hermione was rather unstable on her feet. Draco had an arm around her for support.

"Madam Rosmerta you wouldn't happen to have a couple of rooms available for the night would you?" Draco asked smoothly. "Neither one of us is in any kind of shape to go anywhere."

"I'm afraid I only have one room available right now. If you two don't mind sharing you can have it." Madam Rosmerta replied sympathetically.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other for a long moment before Hermione finally shrugged her shoulders. They really did not have another option.

"We'll take it," Draco said.

"Wonderful," Madam Rosmerta replied as she dug out a key from her apron and handed it to Draco. "Up the stairs all the way on the end to your left."

"Thank you so much!" he said as he took the key.

They headed across the bar, up the stairs and all the way down the hall until they reached the last door on the left. Draco opened the door and lead Hermione over to the bed. He flourished his wand and removed her shoes as he tucked her into bed. On the nightstand was a pitcher of water and two glasses. Draco poured a glass and handed it to Hermione.

"Take a drink," he said sweetly as he poured himself a glass.

"Thank you," Hermione said looking up at him.

"Anytime," Draco said with a smile.

He walked around the bed picking up the extra blanket that was across the end of the bed and then the pillow on the other side before making his way over to the chair in the corner of the room. He sat down kicking off his own shoes before wrapping up in the blanket and placing the pillow behind his head.

"I won't bite," Hermione said with a smile as she sat up.

Draco smiled as he got up bringing his blanket and pillow back to the bed. He climbed into bed, rolling over on his side to face Hermione.

"Goodnight Draco," she said softly.

"Goodnight Granger."


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione woke with her head spinning, what had she done. When she finally managed to open her eyes, she was thankful that the curtains were pulled tight, blocking out the morning sun that tried to stream in through the windows. She could not remember ever feeling so horrible in her entire life, and that was saying something.

Then she remembered that she had not come up here alone, she looked around but Malfoy was not there. She sat there for a moment, clearly conflicted with how waking up without him there made her feel. It was a strange feeling, one she did not expect to have.

Nope, this was not happening. She pushed him out of her head and went to grab her glass of water from last night. When she turned to the nightstand there was a small vial with a note.

"Drink this, you won't feel so shitty. – Draco"

An unintentional smile found its way across her lips and she picked up the tiny vial, uncorking it and placing the glass against her lips as she drank whatever hangover cure Draco had left for her. The potion had a peculiar taste that she could not quite place but it was not unpleasant.

She ran her hands through her hair, her daily dose of Sleekeasy's had clearly worn off, her hair was back to its regular frizzy mess. Joy. She rubbed her face trying to wake up, as the potion slowly start to ease the pounding in her head and the flipping in her stomach.

Just then there was a soft knock at the door.

"Granger, are you up yet?" came Draco's voice from the other side of the old wooden door.

"Yeah I'm up," she replied that unintentional smile back on her lips.

Draco cracked the door, peeking his head in before he opened the door all the way up, a tray in his hands.

"Brought you some breakfast," he said softly as he brought the tray over to the nightstand.

"Thanks," Hermione said sweetly as her smile grew. "And thanks for the potion. I felt bloody horrible when I woke up."

"No problem," Malfoy said as he sat at the foot of the bed, next to Hermione. "It's not much, but I'm sure you don't have much of an appetite anyway," he added about the toast, fruit and pumpkin juice he had brought.

"It's perfect," she said as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice. "What time is it anyway?"

"Not too late, just after 10."

"Oh, not too late," Hermione laughed.

They spent a moment looking at each other, both smiling. She scooted over next to him and put her head on his shoulder.

"Seriously, thanks for taking care of me. I don't usually drink so much."

"Anytime. I had a really great time last night Granger." Draco said as he put his arm behind her back.

"I did too," she said indulging in how comfortable she was, not that she would ever admit that.

They sat together for a few moments before Hermione returned to her breakfast. The pair chatted casually as Hermione finished what she could of her breakfast. The potion certainly helped, but she would not go so far to say it was a cure.

"So, what now?" Hermione asked pulling her knit hat over her frizzy hair.

"Well, I have a mead supply to replenish if you are up for a little shopping."

"I'd love to," she smiled, swinging her legs over the bed.

Hermione and Draco headed out of the room and down the stairs into the bar of the Three Broomsticks.

"Madam Rosmerta, thanks again for letting us stay here last night!" Draco said as he fished the room key out of his pocket and handed it back to her.

"Anytime," Madam Rosmerta said with a smile taking her key before returning her attention back to her regulars.

Thankfully their cloaks and Malfoy's broom were still waiting on the rack by the door for them. They bundled back up before opening the door and being greeted by a blast of icy fall air. It sure was getting cold fast this year.

Hermione and Malfoy spent the morning strolling around Hogsmeade. Malfoy quickly replenished his mead supply that they went through so easily the night before. Hermione even bought a bottle of Firewhisky to save for next time. As they both had silently decided there would be a next time.

Hogsmeade was getting busier as the afternoon drew on and the streets were bustling with locals. It was nice to see that the tiny village had recovered so well after the war. The world was healing, it was undeniably apparent.

"Mione?!" The familiar voice came out of nowhere and stopped Hermione in her tracks. Standing in front of them was none other than Harry, Ron, and Neville.

"Ron," Hermione said coldly. This was the first time she had seen him since before term started, and it had been just as long since she had heard from him.

Awkward glance were exchanged between Malfoy, Harry, and Neville as Ron stared, a dumbfounded expression painted across his face.

"Harry, Neville, it's so good to see you two! It's been ages!" Hermione finally said to break the awkward silence that hung in the air. She was genuinely happy to see those two, Ron, on the other hand, was a different story.

"It's good to see you too," Harry said as he walked over and wrapped his arms around Hermione, pulling her into a tight hug. "Malfoy," Harry nodded to Draco. They might not be friends, but at least Harry could be civil.

"Potter," Draco nodded to Harry. Even when he was trying to be nice, Harry's name always rolled off of his tongue a little sharply.

Neville was clearly anxious about the whole situation. He was much braver now but you could see his weariness to step on anyone's toes.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here with Malfoy," Ron finally managed to spit out.

"You are thick Ronald Weasley. It is none of your business what I am doing or who I am choosing to spend my time with," Hermione fired back.

"But he's a bloody death eater, 'Mione!" Ron shouted back. Draco's eyes quickly darted to the ground.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you!? How dare you Ronald!" she shouted furiously. "I don't hear from you for months and now you have the audacity to say something so… so… asinine! Like it or not things are changing, the world is changing; Malfoy is my friend, and honestly, he's a better friend than you are right now!" Hermione's cheeks were pink, and it was not just the cold making her so flushed. She was so angry she could hardly see straight. "You spoil everything Ron!" she added harshly as her eyes welled up.

Everyone was quiet, no one dared say a word.

"Let's go Draco," she said softly, her words still harsh from how angry she was at Ron. "Harry, Neville, it was really great to see you; hopefully next time will be more pleasant."

They all exchanged parting glances before Hermione and Draco walked off, back towards Hogwarts.

The pair walked in silence for a long time before Hermione finally was calm enough to talk again.

"Draco, I am really sorry about all of that," she said softly.

"It's fine, leave it to Weasley to make an ass out of himself," Draco said nonchalantly.

"No, it's not fine!" she said harshly as she came to a stop in front of Malfoy. Her eyes were still welled up, on the verge of tears.

"You're right, Granger, it's not fine," Draco replied matter-of-factly, "But, I can handle it."

"I know you can," Hermione sighed, "It's just so…"

"Asinine?" Malfoy interjected with a sly smile.

"Exactly," she grinned back at him.

Draco grinned back at her, those damn silver eyes smiling back at her.

"C'mon Granger, we should be getting back. Besides our 'Walk of Shame' is almost over," Malfoy jested. "I think I might be a bad influence on you," he whispered to her. Hermione could swear she saw a little pride behind that sly smile of his.

"Sod off Malfoy," she said giving him a playful push.

"Fine, maybe I will," he mocked playfully. "I do have my broom, I could just fly back. Let you enjoy the walk back alone."

"If you didn't want to walk back with me you wouldn't have," she smiled.

"Eh, maybe I do like hanging out with you," he shrugged, "Even if you are a know it all Gryffindor."

Draco casually put his arm around her shoulders as they kept walking to the castle. He was so warm. It was only because it was so chilly out that he seemed so warm, she tried convincing herself.

"You cold?" he asked genuinely concerned. "Why don't we just take my broom back?" He asked as he jumped on, holding his hand out for her.

She hesitated before she finally gave him her hand and swung on to the back of his broom. He took off back to campus as she wrapped her arms around him. She still was not the biggest fan of flying but it was cold and they would get back much faster this way, and maybe holding on to Draco was not so bad. She could definitely think of worse things.

It only took them a few minutes to get back to the castle grounds. They landed and Draco safely locked his broom up before racing inside. If this sudden drop in temperature was any indication, it was going to be a very cold winter. Before long they were walking into their common room, the roaring fire a welcome sight.

"Now, I don't know about you, but I need a shower and some clean clothes," Draco said as he headed up to the spiral staircase. "Meet up for dinner tonight?"

"Yeah of course, now go take a shower. You smell like a bar," Hermione laughed as she followed him up the stairs.

Hermione made it back up to her room taking off her winter cloak and hanging it up on the hook by her door. She flicked her wand turning the shower on, giving it time to warm up as she got undressed. The distinct smell of The Three Broomsticks lingered on her clothes and her hair. Ew. Her shower had never felt so amazing. It was exactly what she needed. She stood there letting the water run down her, her mind running over everything that had happened since yesterday. Ron, Malfoy, so much had happened.

It did not take her too long to get cleaned up and get her hair back into a manageable state. She slipped on a simple long sleeve dark green wool dress with her black tights and boots. A cleaning spell had been cast on her winter wear so it would not continue to make her room smell like a bar, she had enough of that smell for the weekend.

In a world that seemed to be in a constant state of flux, she knew one thing, her and Ron would never be a thing again. She would always love him, he was one of her oldest friends, but she would never be in love with him again. He had lost her for good, that was certain.

What was not certain were the strange feelings she was developing for Malfoy. She could not get him out of her head. Maybe it was because they were spending so much time together. Maybe it was because they were becoming such good friends. She could not put her finger on it, whatever it was.

A knock at the door finally broke her chain of thought. An unintentional smile played across her lips as she got up and headed over to the door.

"You know it's a little early for dinner, Malfoy," she said playfully as she opened the door to find Padma standing there with an awkward expression.

"Um, I was just wondering if I could borrow your notes from potions."

"Oh, Padma, yes of course," she said trying not to be awkward. She flourished her wand and her Potions notes gracefully flew off her desk into her hand that she held out for Padma.

"I'll make sure to get them back to you tomorrow," she said sweetly taking the notes from Hermione's outstretched hand. "Thanks," she added before heading back to her own room.

"No problem," Hermione said as she shut her door. Her mind raced, was she really disappointed that it was not Malfoy at her door? No way, nope, not happening.

It was not much longer before Malfoy actually came to get her to walk down to dinner. He still did not like to walk around the castle alone, and who could blame him. There were plenty of students whose family members had been apprehended because of his family. He was a traitor to the Death Eaters. How Ron could not wrap his head around that she could not understand.

They joined Ginny at dinner as per usual, sitting across from her and the majority of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Hermione had almost forgotten that she had not seen any of them since the match yesterday. She had also almost forgotten that all she had to eat was some toast and fruit since breakfast the day before. She quickly piled her plate up as they all chatted casually.

"So, I didn't see you two yesterday, where did you two disappear to?" Ginny finally asked bluntly with a sly smile.

"We were around," Hermione said nonchalantly.

"Around Hogsmeade?" Ginny asked as her sly smile turned into a playful grin.

"C'mon you know Harry told me all about earlier and how my brother is continuing to be a real arse. Sorry about him, I wonder if we are really related sometimes," she said directing that last part to Malfoy before taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. "Also, there are some rumors floating around about you two getting back today snuggled together on Malfoy's broom," Ginny laughed. "The rumors that make their way around here," she added with a wink at Hermione that no one else would have been able to see.

Oh, Ginny, you devil you she thought as she laughed and shook her head.

"This school at its rumors. Remember when it was going around that Harry had a tattoo on his chest," she laughed. It seemed like forever ago now, in reality, she guessed it was.

"Thank Merlin I corrected everyone and told them it was a Hungarian Horntail and not a Hippogriff," Ginny smiled.

"Thank Merlin that Ginny is the queen of the Hogwarts rumor mill," Hermione smirked. Really, Thank Merlin.


	11. Chapter 11

Thank Merlin it was Thursday. Classes had been ramping up the work as November was quickly coming to an end. There was just a little over a month before Christmas and the professors were trying to get in as much as they could before the Holidays. It was half-past one by the time Hermione got back to her room after Astronomy and it was well after two by the time she finally drifted off to sleep. She had never been more grateful for a three-day weekend to catch up on studying.

A loud thud from outside her room startled her awake from a deep sleep. She sat upright in bed, wand already in hand and pointed at her door. She waited only a moment before jumping out of bed to investigate. She grabbed the throw from the end of her bed and wrapped it around her, wand drawn as she carefully opened her door.

It was pitch black on the landing between her and Malfoy's rooms.

"Lumos" she whispered, a bright white light streaming from the end of her wand.

It took her eyes a moment to adjust, looking around the landing when she finally saw Malfoy sitting outside his door. He was curled up, his knees up to his chest, his head resting on them.

"Malfoy," she whispered softly as she started to walk over to him, careful not to startle him. When he did not answer her, she crouched down next to him, "Draco are you alright?"

"I'm fine Granger, go back to bed," he finally managed to say, although his words had the exact opposite effect as he had intended.

"What happened," Hermione said softly as she gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

Draco finally looked up at her, his face pale and cheeks wet with tears. His silver eyes were glossed over and red from crying. He looked absolutely terrified. What could have possibly happened?

"Voldemort… he was…" Malfoy managed to stutter. Then he looked back down at his knees, "…it was just a nightmare," he added sounding very defeated.

"That's right it was just a nightmare," she said as she sat down next to him, "but that doesn't change how real it feels."

He looked over at her speechless. Clearly, Draco had been struggling with this for some time.

"I used to get them too before the war ended. After Bellatrix," her voice trailed off, she had not thought about that night in Malfoy Manor for a very long time. Not since the Battle of Hogwarts.

"I'm really sorry about that," Draco said softly looking back over to her, placing his hand gently on her knee. "I should have…"

Hermione shook her head and softly placed her hand on his.

"There is nothing you could have done." That was the truth, Bellatrix would have killed him. That's when Hermione saw the blood. "Draco! Your arm!" she shouted grabbing his left arm and pulling it over so she could look at it.

Where Draco's dark mark was branded onto his forearm was covered in blood and jagged slashes. Hermione quickly brought her wand over to it to try and get a better look before Draco jerked his arm away from her.

"Its fine, I reopened an old cut when I was having that nightmare." Draco said as he held his arm to his chest.

"Let me at least clean it up a little," Hermione said unable to hide the concern in her voice.

Draco hesitated a moment before finally allowing Hermione to take his arm. A quick flourish of her wand and the cuts were closed but the blood remained.

"Let's get this washed up, ok?" she said softly as she got to her feet, pulling his up towards her.

He silently consented, following her into her room and then into her bathroom. Her wand had turned on the faucet in the sink, the warm water steaming up the small bathroom. Hermione softly washed all the blood of off his arm revealing the scars the covered his slowly fading brand. He had clearly made several unsuccessful attempts to remove the dark mark from his forearm. She did her best to hide how her heart ached for him.

"There we are, all cleaned up," she said looking up at him with a soft smile.

"Thanks, Granger," Draco replied softly, clearly ashamed that he let anyone see him in his current state.

He walked past her out of the bathroom, Hermione trailing behind him. He got to her doorway before he stopped, his eyes staring across the dark landing to his door.

"I'm going to be up for a while," Hermione said casually leaned up against the doorframe of the bathroom. "You are welcome to stay here."

"I don't want to impose," Draco replied clearly torn about what he should do.

"C'mon on, I'm sure I have some chocolate stashed around here, and I know I have a brand-new bottle of fire whiskey," she smiled gesturing for him to come in.

She sat down on her bed, pulling the bottle of fire whiskey and a chocolate bar out from her bedside table. Draco slowly made his way over and sat softly on the side of her bed next to her looking for her approval before grabbing the fire whiskey bottle from her. He pulled the cork from it before taking a big swig and handing the bottle to her.

Hermione stared at the bottle for a few moments before finally taking a swig of it herself. The whiskey burned as it went down her throat sending a shiver through her body. She was not a big drinker, to begin with, and certainly not at this time of night.

"Now I'm really awake," she joked as she passed the bottle back to him.

Finally, that got a smile out of Malfoy as he took the bottle back from her before taking another drink.

They continued like this, chatting casually, passing the bottle back and forth until it was over half empty. Hermione could feel the liquor in her face when she finally refused to take it back.

"A little drunk Granger?" Malfoy asked playfully even though she knew the answer was obvious.

"Maybe a little," she laughed before yawning. She had forgotten how tired she was having only slept for a few hours.

"Sorry I woke you up, I didn't mean to slam the door so loud," he said remorsefully.

"Please don't be," she said reaching a hand out to him.

"I'm sorry about a lot of things Granger," he said looking at her.

"Everything has changed since then, you have changed since then," Hermione said sternly hoping to drive the point home, "There is no point in beating yourself up over the past when you are working so hard to make up for it." This all but reduced Malfoy to tears.

"All anyone sees is my mistakes, Granger. They will always think of me as a death eater. It will always be there just like this damn mark on my arm."

"Then you will just have to prove everyone wrong," she said firmly. "I think you are doing pretty good so far." Hermione moved over next to him, pushing his arm playfully. This conjured a small smile to his lips which made her smile grow.

She rested her head on his shoulder, who was she kidding, she was drunk. Malfoy put his arm around her to help stabilize her, she was a bit on the wobbly side.

"C'mon Granger, let's get you into bed," he said as he scooped her up in his arms, her head resting softly on his chest as he stood up from the bed. He managed to grab his wand from his pocket to pull the sheets back before laying her down and pulling the covers up over her.

"You can stay if you don't want to be alone," Hermione said with a slight slur to her normally precise words. It was not like they had not slept in the same bed before. Mind you the circumstances were completely different, but neither one of them were thinking about that at the moment.

Draco walked around the bed laying down on top of the covers, leaving a respectful space between him and Hermione. Always a gentleman, that sure was a pleasant change. He continued to prove time and time again how much he was changing. Hermione used her wand to pull the throw from on top of her trunk over to Malfoy. It was chilly despite the glowing embers in the fireplace and he did not need to freeze because of his gentlemanliness.

"Goodnight Granger," he said softly, his silver eyes gleaming in the darkness.

"Goodnight Draco," she replied, their faces so close yet so far away from one another.

As soon as Hermione's eyes closed she was asleep. It was a deep sleep, a mix of exhaustion and the result of her earlier adrenaline spike. The next thing she knew the sun was streaming through her window, the morning light playing across her room. It was far too soon to be awake and it took her several moments to fully take in her current surroundings. Malfoy was sound asleep next to her, his arm finding its way over to her waist at some point during the night. There was something comforting about his arm laying across her. She moved closer to him, being careful not to wake him up, before drifting back off.

The next time Hermione opened her eyes she was surprised to find Malfoy's head resting on her chest, his arm still resting across her waist. A small unintentional smile had found its way to her lips, there was something so peaceful about the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest next to her. She only had a moment to revel in his warmth before he began to stir.

"Morning Malfoy," she said softly as he began to turn.

"Morning Granger," he replied sleepily as he turned to look at her, clearly not fully awake yet.

"It's almost lunchtime," she replied matter-of-factly, "we should probably get out of bed at some point today," Hermione added with a grin.

It took a few moments before Malfoy finally completely woke up.

"Thanks for taking care of me last night, especially since I clearly decided you were a great pillow," he said half joking, half apologetically. It was clear he was feeling a little awkward, but he must not have minded so much.

"Anytime, even if you do end up using me as a pillow," she grinned as she swung out of bed.

"Be careful now, I might take you up on that," Malfoy grinned back as he too made his way out of her bed, on to his feet and towards the door. "Meet you for lunch in thirty?" he asked.

"Of course," Hermione replied before Draco left, closing the door behind him.

She quickly hopped in the shower to start getting ready for the rest of her day. There was a lot to do if she wanted to enjoy her weekend in the slightest. First lunch, then studying until dinner. She would see how far she got before dinner to see if she would continue her studies after dinner or not.

Hermione had barely finished her hair when she heard a knock at the door.

"Just a second!" she called as she flourished her wand causing her jumper to come floating over to her. She slipped into it as she opened the door to find Malfoy standing there waiting for her.

"Took you long enough," he joked playfully giving her a little jab as she headed out of her room and on to the landing of the spiral staircase.

"Well if someone hadn't have slept all day then we could have been down there sooner," she said playfully as she headed down the stairs into the common room.

"Eh, worth it," Malfoy shrugged giving Hermione a playful look.

They continued back and forth all the way down to lunch and through most of their meal. Lunch was relatively quiet for this time of year, everyone was cramming for the end of term. If Hermione was not so hungry she would be studying right now, but skipping breakfast meant that lunch most certainly could not be skipped.

"So, what's your plan for the rest of the day? Personally, I'm going to study until dinner, so I get better marks than you." Malfoy said smugly. It was a playful smugness though that had grown on Hermione.

"You better study really hard then, especially since I was planning on studying until dinner as well," Hermione replied smartly.

"Rubbish might have to cancel my after-dinner plans to keep studying then," Malfoy added playfully.

"Oh, after-dinner plans?" she asked questioningly.

"Yep, just a little treat while the rest of the school is held up studying," he replied slyly, "I might even invite you," Malfoy added nonchalantly.

"An invitation for me?" Hermione asked sarcastically.

"Maybe," Malfoy fired back with his ever enticing sly grin. "I'll see how I feel after dinner."

"You do that then, I am going to go study. I might even invite you," she replied with playful sarcasm as she got up from the table.

"I'll invite you if you invite me," Malfoy said slyly as he got up, following Hermione back up to the common room.

"Malfoy would you like to study with me?" Hermione asked precisely.

"I would be delighted," he replied mocking her tone.

Hermione rolled her eyes as they continued their way back to the eighth year dormitory to grab their notes and find a quiet place to study the day away.


	12. Chapter 12

If you would have told Hermione that one day that her favorite study buddy would be Draco Malfoy she would have literally died from laughing so hard. Now the two of them set curled up on the couch in the eighth-year common room deep into their notes, burning down a Friday night studying for the few weeks left before the holidays. He really was very smart and nice when he wanted to be, it was a pity that his family had corrupted him for so long. It was not hard to imagine the kind of person he would have been had it not been for his family. Either way, she was proud of the person he was so quickly becoming, working on moving pasts the prejudice his family had raised him to believe in. Time passed so quickly while they were studying they managed to keep going right on through dinner before either one of them had any idea. Hermione's stomach began to grumble softly breaking her concentration from their notes.

"Damn we studied straight through dinner," Hermione said slightly irritated as she began sorting her notes back on to the table in front of them.

"Oh wow, I can't believe it's already that late," Malfoy exclaimed as he too started adding his notes back into the various piles on the table. "We could always run out to Hogsmeade, grab something from the Three Broomsticks."

"I am getting pretty hungry," she said looking up at him knowing that there was a good chance they would stay at the bar past dinner and well into the night, if not all night. They had spent the night together just last night, was two nights in a row mean that a pattern was emerging?

"Well c'mon then, let's get this mess sorted and fly on over," Draco said ever so smoothly as he swiftly sent his notes flying into his school bag.

"Alright," Hermione grinned back as she too filed the last of her notes away neatly into her bag before following Malfoy up the spiral staircase to where their rooms were. They quickly put their notes away and grabbed their winter cloaks and scarves for the trip over to Hogsmeade.

It did not take the pair too long to make their way downstairs and out to where Draco kept his broom. The halls were relatively empty, nothing unusual for a Friday night when the common rooms would be filled with students celebrating the weekend. Hermione waited while Draco grabbed his broom a mounted swiftly before holding out his hand to help her on to the back of it.

"Hold on Granger," Draco said slyly before taking off for Hogsmeade.

Hermione rolled her eyes but compliantly wrapped her arms around Malfoy's torso as they took off. He was so warm and the air was so icy she would not complain about being wrapped around him. Maybe she was completely enjoying the excuse to be so close to him, not that she would ever admit it – even to herself.

It took no time at all before they were landing at the front door of the Three Broomsticks which per usual was filled with locals. You could hear the crowd inside before even getting to the door, the sound erupting once they swung open the old wooden door. They heavy sent of alcohol, roasted chicken, and pipe smoke greeted them as they walked inside to the warmth of the tavern. The pair eventually made it through the crowd and up to the bar where they ordered large dinners and butterbeers from Madame Rosmerta. Once their orders were placed they made their way over to the other side of the tavern into a comfy corner booth.

"So, what were your after dinner plans anyway?" Hermione asked playfully.

"Secret after dinner plans," Malfoy retorted smugly.

The look on Hermione's face made how she felt about his reply more than clear.

"Maybe we can proceed with my after dinner plans after dinner, but I'm kind of set on trying to get you drunk two nights in a row now that the opportunity has presented itself," he laughed as their food was set in front of them.

"You're a real cad Malfoy," Hermione laughed back with a grin.

It took them no time at all to devour their dinner, several rounds of butterbeer and a bottle of fire whiskey. They were both a little buzzed, to say the least.

"You wanna get out of here?" Malfoy asked bluntly.

"Are you going to take me along on your secret after dinner plans?" Hermione replied without missing a beat.

"Only one way to find out," Draco said as he stood up holding out his hand to help her out of their cozy corner booth.

She let her hand sit softly in his as she got up and followed him back to the bar to close out their tab, which now had an entire bottle of fire whiskey added on to it.

"Your after dinner plans include more drinking?" Hermione asked playfully.

"Of course they do," he grinned back at her as they made their way back outside and on to his broom.

It felt like only moments before they arrived back at the school, Malfoy quickly stashing his broom before they made their way into the warmth of the hallways. Hermione followed Draco through the winding hallways and down towards the dungeons. Where on earth was he taking her? It didn't take them long to pass the potions classroom and start heading nearer the Slytherin common room.

"Where are we going?" She finally asked, half intrigued, and half concerned.

"You'll see," he said slyly as he turned down a narrow hallway and opened the door to a storeroom.

Hermione cautiously walked in, eyeing Malfoy as he held the door open for her before following her in and closing it behind them.

"Lumos," Draco said softly as he held up his wand in the dark room, illuminating the dusty shelves filled with old school supplies.

"You took me to a secret cupboard?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yes Granger, I took you to a secret cupboard," Draco replied equally sarcastic as he leaned up against one of the dusty shelves.

As his weight pressed into the shelf a low rumble filled the room and the shelf slowly began to move out from behind him. Draco grinned as he held out his hand for Hermione. Surprise and excitement rushed through her as she gently took his hand, allowing him to guide her.

Behind the shelf was an old green spiral staircase leading them down deeper under the school. The staircase quickly opened up into a tall stone room that was filled with a strange glistening light. It was so dark though it was hard to make out what was down here, even with Malfoy's wand illuminating the path in front of them. When they finally reached the bottom of the stairs Malfoy flourished his wand lighting a small fireplace pit in the center of the room, this caused a chain effect lighting several torches around the room.

It took her eyes a few moments to adjust to the fire's soft glow before Hermione realized where the glistening light was coming from. The entire wall in front of them was lined with large gothic windows allowing a clear view underneath the black lake.

"We're underneath the black lake aren't we?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Brilliant observation Ms. Granger," Draco replied with a playful grin.

Hermione quickly made her way to one of the eighteen-foot gothic windows sitting on the built-in seating on the window pane. Outside the cool dark water of the black lake reflected the pale moonlight causing the glistening light that she had seen dancing across the stone walls.

"This is amazing Draco," she said as she watched fish swimming past them.

He smiled sweetly as he made his way over sitting next to her.

"I literally stumbled across this place fifth year," he laughed as he uncorked the bottle of fire whiskey he had stashed in his robes taking a big swig before offering the bottle to Hermione.

"No matter how much I think I know about this place it keeps surprising me," she smiled taking the bottle from Draco and pressing it to her lips taking a drink before passing it back to him.

They carried on like this for a while, passing the bottle of fire whiskey back and forth as Hermione stared out the window in the black waters of the lake, pointing out every creature that came close enough to be seen.

"This is really so amazing, thanks for bringing me down here," she said sweetly as she took another sip.

"Thanks for being there for me last night," Draco replied taking a large drink from their shared bottle.

"Anytime," she said as her hand brushed his as the bottle passed between them. Her eyes transfixed on his gleaming silver gaze until the rush of a shimmering school of fish caught her attention.

Before she had time to ask where they were off to in such a rush, the bioluminescence of the giant squid came into view as he rushed past the window chasing after the massive school of fish.

"Oh my god, did you see that!" she exclaimed standing up on the seat to watch him disappear in the distance. "I had no idea that the giant squid was bioluminescent!" She exclaimed as she looked back to catch Draco looking up at her, an expression she had never seen before painted so clearly across his face. "What's that look for?" she asked curiously as she sat back down next to him.

"Nothing," he smiled taking another drink. "I forget that not everyone gets to experience the black lake like the Slytherins do, although our view isn't this spectacular."

"I could stay down here for days just watching," she smiled taking the bottle from him. She could feel her face flush with her last sip, "I have to say I'm pretty impressed. You kept your after dinner plans and still managed to get me drunk two nights in a row," she finished with a laugh, handing the bottle back to him.

"Damn, I'm pretty impressed with myself too," he laughed taking another drink. "Now before I hand this back to you, am I going to have to carry you out of here if I let you keep drinking?"

"Let me keep drinking!?" she said taking the bottle out of his hand and pressing it to her lips.

"I am totally going to have to carry you back to your room tonight," he smiled playfully at her taking the bottle from her when she had finished.

"Possibly," she said as she leaned against him. "You are so warm," she added with a content smile.

"You are so drunk," Draco smiled back at her wrapping his arm around her, pulling her in closer.

"Possibly," she smiled enjoying how warm he really was. She had never really noticed how absolutely amazing he smelled. But what was really amazing was how comfortable she felt in his arms.

The pair sat snuggled up silently enjoying each other's company. She felt so comfortable, it was a peaceful comfort that she was not sure she should contribute to him or the amount of alcohol she had consumed. Either way, it was becoming increasingly clear to her how much Draco had changed and how clearly their relationship was evolving this year. From enemies to best friends in less than a year, but if she had to honest with herself maybe there was something else there. Maybe there was more, but clearly, she was not completely ready to face that yet.

Malfoy leaned over and kissed her softly on the forehead before scooping her up in his arms and slowly standing up.

"It's getting late, let's get you to bed," he said softly as he carefully made his way over to the stairs and began to climb up the winding flight. "I promise to bring you back here," he added as he left the storeroom and started through the empty castle hallway back up to the eighth-year dormitory.

The next thing she knew she was being laid down in bed and tucked in gently.

"Don't go," Hermione said softly.

"I wasn't planning on it," Draco replied as he climbed into bed next to her wrapping his arm around her as she snuggled back onto his chest. He kissed her softly on the forehead before she drifted off to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Hermione groggily opened her eyes the next morning, her head was pounding dully, and she was still held tightly in Draco's arms. An unbeknownst smile played across her lips as she looked at Draco through her dark hungover eyes. Maybe there was more here than she had originally allowed herself to believe, it was clear to her that there was something here that was not here before. She reluctantly moved from his comforting grasp to reach for the glass of water she normally kept at her bedside. As she reached out to the nightstand it clicked. This was not her nightstand, and this was not her room. Draco had taken her to his room last night. As her eyes adjusted to the much dimmer room she finally noticed all the emerald and silver décor. Of course, she thought to herself, he was not able to get her into her room while she was passed out. He would not have known the answers to the questions her knocker would ask. How could she be so stupid?

This new realization left her with only one thought, what now? She could get up and go across the hall to her own room to get some water and go about her day like normal. Or she could give in to this new feeling and stay in bed with Draco for as long as she could. Did she want things to stay as they have been or was she ready to see where this was going? It was a lot to think about first thing in the morning when you were hungover, but she was going to have to decide. She loved the friendship they had developed; would she love whatever else might be developing? Maybe it was too late anyway, maybe leaving and trying to keep things as they were would be just as damaging as seeing what else might be here. All of this made her extremely nervous, she was not exactly good at things like this.

"Good morning Granger," Draco said softly as he sat up behind her.

"Morning," she said with a smile, turning around to look at him. "Thanks for taking care of me last night," she added genuinely.

"Anytime," he smiled back at her, "How are you feeling?"

"Hungover to say the least," truer words could not be spoken.

Draco grabbed his wand from his nightstand and conjured two glasses of water and two small potion vials. She recognized them as the same one he had left out for her at The Three Broomsticks.

"Cheers," Draco said as they each took one popping the small cork from the vial and tipping them back.

"Thank Merlin I have you to take care of me when I've been drinking," Hermione said innocently enough. It was true after all, though she probably would not have even been drinking if it were not for Malfoy.

"Thank Merlin I have you to take care of me when I have nightmares," Draco smiled back.

"I guess we make a pretty good team," Hermione said sweetly laying back in Draco's bed.

"I guess we do," Draco replied, their eyes fixed on each other.

Just then an urgent tapping at the window broke their gaze. Malfoy's head turned to look, flourishing his wand, swinging the window open. One of the most beautiful owls Hermione had ever seen flew in and perched at the foot of his four-poster bed, a small scroll tied to his leg. Draco reached across the bed and untied the small scroll from around his leg, a deep emerald ribbon wrapped around it. He opened it up, his eyes moving across the parchment as he read. When he got to the end he sighed softly, putting the parchment down on the bed.

"Thanks, Knox," Draco said sweetly as the small northern white-faced owl hopped on to the bed and over to him.

Draco smiled once again flourishing his wand, conjuring a small jar of dried crickets in it. He opened it up, holding a few out for Knox to take. After the owl finished his treats he hopped back up to the foot of the bed before flying out the window. Once Knox was safely out of the room he closed the window again and laid down on the bed next to Hermione.

"Everything ok," Hermione finally asked after laying next to each other quietly for a few moments.

"Yea, my parents just aren't going to make it back to the country for Christmas. They are still abroad helping the ministry. So, I guess I'm going to be spending break here." He clearly had mixed feelings about not going home for Christmas.

"I'm sorry, I hated being away from my family for Christmas," she empathized. She let the silence sit between them for a moment before she had an idea. "You could always come with me for break, I'm going home to see my parents."

Draco rolled over and looked at her, his beautiful silver eyes hiding whatever was going on behind them. It took him a few moments to say anything, clearly contemplating the situation.

"Um, I mean, are you sure that would be okay?" he finally stammered.

"Of course," Hermione smiled as she rolled over to face him. "I'll write them later to let them know."

"Oh, ok, great, then that's all sorted," he replied almost doing a good job of hiding how uneasy he was.

Hermione smiled reassuringly at Draco. This morning's hangover finally fading thanks to Draco's hangover cure.

"Well Granger, as much as I would love to spend all day in bed with you, I have some errands to run," Draco said slyly. "Want to meet at The Three Broomsticks for lunch?"

"Sounds good to me, I have a few things I need to get done this morning as well." Hermione smiled back.

"Perfect," Draco replied as he finally got out of bed.

Hermione sat up, but before she could get to her feet Draco was there with an outstretched hand, waiting to help her up. She smiled up at him as she placed her hand in his, allowing him to help her to her feet. Once she was up he let her hand go walking with her to the door.

"I'll see you at lunch, don't be late," he called as she walked across the hall to her own room.

"Me, late? You are hysterical Malfoy," she called back sarcastically before opening her door with a quick knock of her golden lion knocker.

"What did Albus Dumbledore leave to you in his will?" the golden knocker asked just loud enough for her to hear.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard," she answered swiftly.

Her door swung open with her answer and she quickly walked inside. As she turned to shut the door she noticed Malfoy was still watching her from his doorway.

"I'll see you at lunch," she called to him from her doorway.

"See ya at lunch," he called back before finally closing his door.

Hermione grinned as she too shut her door. With a flip of her wand, she started her shower, flopping down on her neatly made bed while she waited for the water to heat up. Her mind raced with everything that had happened since Draco had woken her up in the middle of the night. They had spent the last two nights in bed with each other, and although nothing had physically happened between them something emotionally had. At least something emotionally had happened to her. She tried her hardest to push it to the back of her mind, overthinking was a serious fault she had. The last thing she needed right now was to overthink what was happening between them and ruin the friendship they had built this term.

She took a deep breath as she rolled out of bed and moved over to her desk. Grabbing a neat square of parchment and a quill she quickly wrote out a note to her parents letting them know that she would be bringing a friend home with her for the holiday break. She sealed her note in a matching square envelope, their names and addresses neatly written on the front. She placed the note on the bed along with her bag and the outfit she planned on wearing to meet Draco for lunch. By now she was sure that the water streaming from the shower would be warm enough and she made her way to the bathroom, so she could get ready for the day ahead. After the last two days, there was no telling where today would end up going, and that was certainly exciting.

It didn't take Hermione too long to get ready, which was good since she had a few things she wanted to do before meeting up with Draco for lunch. Her first stop was to the owlery to get her letter off to her parents. After that, she stopped by the library to grab a few obscure books on charms and then started on her way to Hogsmeade. She had some Christmas shopping she wanted to get done before she got too caught up in end of term exams.

Her first stop was to the small potions shop, inside she found a variety of interesting potions she thought her parents would get a bang out of. She loved bringing them little pieces of her world. It was weird not knowing if she would see the boys this year, or the rest of the Weasley family. She decided that she would just order something for them in case she did not see them during the Holidays. It was crazy to think that this time last year her and Harry were on the run, hunting down Horcruxes and getting closer to their visit to Godric's Hollow. Everything really had changed since then. Literally everything.

Now she just needed to find something for Draco. She would never have believed she would be Christmas shopping for Draco Malfoy. What a fucking concept. And what a task, Draco was still a spoiled prat who had the best of what money could buy. What could she possibly give to him? She could always get him a bottle of fire whiskey, but that did not seem like a Christmas present. They were buying alcohol together so frequently now she was not sure that it qualified as a present at this point.

She popped into the bookstore and began browsing through the familiar titles. Maybe something in here would catch her eye. Unlike Harry and Ron, if she bought Draco a book he was interested in he would actually read it. That thought brought a small smile to her lips as she continued perusing over titles. She could have stayed hidden away looking over book titles all day when she finally stumbled on a pair of very old Alchemy texts that she found to be very intriguing. One book was a set of translations of ancient Latin texts, and the other was written by various members of the Egyptian Centre for Alchemical Studies. Worst case if Draco did not enjoy these she would. They had not spoken a lot about Alchemy since the class was not being offered this year, but she knew it was something he was interested in.

She let another small smile creep across her lips and she quickly checked out and hid his Christmas present in her book bag along with the potions for her parents and the books she grabbed from the library earlier that morning. Before heading over to The Three Broomsticks to meet Draco for lunch she stopped and grabbed some wrapping paper and ribbon as well as a few bottles of fire whiskey to replenish what they had gone through the last few nights. With everything tucked neatly into her book bag with her very much illegal undetectable extension charm. It was not nearly as large as the one on her handbag, it was the first one she created when working on the charm for the handbag. It was perfect though for some light shopping and keeping all of her school worked neat and organized.

By the time she made it over to The Three Broomsticks Draco was already waiting for her in their usual corner booth. He had several large shopping bags with him that peaked Hermione's curiosity.

"Finally," Draco said sarcastically as ever, "For a moment I thought you might stand me up, or even worst the ever-punctual Miss Granger might actually be late!" He grinned slyly as Hermione took her seat across from him.

"Very funny," she shot back at him as she took her book bag off and placed it next to her. "I see you've been doing some shopping."

"No, I just like carrying large bags around with me," his sarcasm practically dripping off his tongue.

"That makes perfect sense. I should have known," she retorted matching his sarcastic tone.

They smiled at each other across the table before they were interrupted by Madame Rosemerta bring them lunch and butterbeer.

"Thanks, Draco," she said slightly surprised he had taken the initiative to order for them both. Part of her should have known, but it still was not something she was used to.

"It was easier to just go ahead and order while I was waiting, but you are very welcome," his sly grin made Hermione smile.

They both tucked into their meals, chatting casually as they ate. It did not take them long to finish and head back to the castle together, Draco toting his shopping bags. There was something about him carrying his shopping that made Hermione grin the entire way back to school. He eyed her amused grin the whole way back, making smug comments as they walked. Their playful banter was something else Hermione had really come to love about their friendship. She really did love their friendship.

"So, what's your plan for the rest of the day?" Hermione asked casually as they headed into the eighth-year dormitory.

"Well I have some stuff to sort out and then I am not totally sure, it is Saturday night after all. Might have to grab a drink or six," he laughed, "Obviously you are invited if you want to join me."

"Drinking three nights in a row? What have you done to me?" she laughed as they started up the spiral staircase to the landing their rooms were on.

"Could I have possibly made your weekends a little more fun? Not that studying all the time isn't a blast," the sarcasm hung in the air as they grinned at each other.

"Well you know where I'll be when you are ready to grab that drink, or six," she smiled as she knocked on her door.

"I'll see you later tonight then," Draco replied as he too knocked on his door.


End file.
